When Sky general manager Jeff Pagliocca called forward Kaela Davis to inquire about her signing a hardship contract, he started with one question.
“Can you move?” Pagliocca asked Davis on the phone.
Davis laughed Wednesday when retelling the story before the Sky’s 89-58 loss to the 10th-place Mystics.
“I was like, ‘Yes, Jeff, I can move,’ ” Davis said. “He was like, ‘Can you hit shots?’ ‘Yes, I can hit shots.’ ‘Can you defend some?’ ‘Yeah, I can defend.’ ’’
With limited options and no time to waste, Pagliocca had to be direct with his interview questions and take Davis’ word for it.
At this stage in the WNBA season, GMs have few options when it comes to signing players to hardship contracts. Most WNBA-caliber players already are competing overseas by August and September. Breaking those contracts comes with monetary implications and also can affect a player’s future opportunities overseas.
With only 144 roster spots available if all 12 WNBA teams have 12-player rosters, overseas opportunities are crucial. So burning a team for a brief WNBA stint is not a likely choice for a player unless there are stipulations negotiated into a contract.
It had been two years since the 6-2 forward played in the WNBA. After playing with the Wings and Dream, she started the 2022 season in Chicago, signing a training-camp contract with the Sky before being waived ahead of the regular season. She was brought back days later on a hardship contract and played in one game before being waived again.
She played in six more games that regular season, one with the Storm and five with the Mercury. She stayed with the Mercury through the first round of the playoffs, in which they were swept by the eventual champion Aces.
Davis signed a training-camp contract with the Storm this year but was waived before the season started.
Last year, Davis was absent from the WNBA after she ruptured her right Achilles in January. She spent most of the year rehabbing and working her way back.
Her feelings about returning to Wintrust Arena more than two years after playing her last game there were hard to describe.
“It’s been a crazy 48 hours,” Davis said. “I’ve had a couple of seconds a few times today to kind of sit and soak it in. But it’s crazy. It’s hard to put all of it into words. To be able to have this moment, have my mom be able to come to the game tonight, it’s amazing.”
A versatile swing player who can supplement Michaela Onyenwere, Davis played six minutes in garbage time against Washington less than 12 hours after landing in Chicago. She should get more minutes in the road game Friday against the Lynx.
“I left Atlanta at 6:37 a.m. [Wednesday],” Davis said. “Came straight to shootaround, went back to the hotel, took a nap and came here.”
Davis’ experience is not uncommon for players who sign hardship contracts in the WNBA. The challenge is integrating into a system on the fly. In Davis’ case, there are playoff implications on the table, as well.
In her last game in the WNBA before signing with the Sky, she scored 23 points and shot 11-for-19 from the field for the Mercury. With only four games left in the regular season and a loose grip on the last spot in the playoffs, the Sky need Davis to find that scoring touch in a hurry.
“It’s tough, the unknown,” Davis said. “You just don’t really know what to expect or what’s going to happen. But you know these are the moments that you prepare for.”