The Sky have been lost to no man’s land — without a real shot at competing this postseason, and without much hope that the 2026 draft will change their fortunes. They’re 8-21, and they owe their 2026 first-round pick to the Lynx.
So while they wander through the desert in search of miracles, let’s return to another roster that had a sharper competitive edge: the 2023 Sky. That team had two All-Stars in Courtney Williams and Kahleah Copper, a dynamic scorer in Marina Mabrey, and a solid defensive back line of Alanna Smith and Elizabeth Williams.
It’s true that James Wade, then head coach and general manager, planted the seeds for today’s malaise by trading three years of draft picks for Mabrey.
But for all it cost them down the line, shouldn’t that 2023 group — who snuck into the playoffs only to make a quick exit — have been better?
Maybe not. As Emre Vatansever, who stepped in as interim coach that season and is now an assistant with the Mystics, put it to the Sun-Times on Tuesday:
“I thought we had a very good group [in 2023], but look back at what we’d gone through. The year before we had a successful team. And then all of a sudden, eight out of 11 players are gone. And then, some injuries happen at the beginning of the season. And then, their coach left.”
In other words: the chaotic context matters just as much as talent. How good was a brand-new team — whose coach left midseason for the NBA — really going to be?
But the real sting for Sky fans was how that team became a launching pad for others’ success.
After Courtney Williams’ first year as a true point guard in Chicago, she became one of the league’s best — and helped bring the Lynx to the Finals.
Copper made her first All-WNBA team — for the Mercury, after requesting a trade out of Chicago.
Copper, Williams and Smith are now all key pieces on contending teams. Even Mabrey briefly found greener pastures with the title-hopeful Sun — though things soured when the Sun’s stars departed and her trade request was denied.
The Sky, meanwhile, have mostly cleaned up the mess that came with acquiring Mabrey. They’re now trying to build around Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese — two young stars who could anchor a real turnaround.
This season was supposed to be a step forward in that project, with a new coach and a more grown-up roster. But they haven’t stayed healthy, and their record is actually worse than last year’s. They just snapped an eight-game losing streak, thanks in part to a double-double from Elizabeth Williams — a 10-year vet and the only holdover from the 2023 team.
“Sometimes just winning that one game, it just changes the mindset and mentality and reminds us what we’re capable of,” Williams said postgame. “I’ve had winning streaks, losing streaks, but all it takes is one.”
The Sky probably won’t find any miracles in the desert.
But they can count on Elizabeth Williams to help them find some water.