{"id":677707,"date":"2026-05-18T15:25:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T15:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/677707\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T15:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T15:25:08","slug":"1-wnba-team-is-already-exceeding-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/677707\/","title":{"rendered":"1 WNBA team is already exceeding expectations"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Sky were tied for the WNBA\u2019s worst record last season. Then, they traded one of their best players, Angel Reese<\/a>, for future draft consideration.<\/p>\n

Now, after a series of shrewd offseason transactions, they look like one of the WNBA\u2019s best teams.<\/p>\n

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How did we get here?<\/p>\n

After the Reese trade, it seemed unlikely that the Sky would be competitive this season. But general manager Jeff Pagliocca put together a new-look roster that, at least on paper, looked gritty. He traded for Jacy Sheldon<\/a> and Rickea Jackson<\/a>, signed Skylar Diggins, DiJonai Carrington<\/a>, and Natasha Cloud<\/a> in free agency, and drafted Gabriela Jaquez with the fifth overall pick.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still early \u2014 and Jackson\u2019s future is uncertain after she went down with a non-contact knee injury on Sunday \u2014 but the Sky\u2019s new-look roster is exceeding expectations.<\/p>\n

They began the season with a four-game road trip, going 3-1 with wins against the Portland Fire<\/a>, Golden State Valkyries, and Minnesota Lynx<\/a> (and dropping a game to the Phoenix Mercury<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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In her third season, Jackson has been excellent, averaging a team-high 18 points. Jaquez, who some thought was drafted too high at No. 5, has done a little bit of everything and hasn\u2019t missed a step in her transition from college to the pros. She\u2019s averaging 12.5 points and 5.8 rebounds, and put together the best game of her career \u2014 a 20-point, 8-rebound showing \u2014 in a win over the Lynx on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very hard for me to take her off the court, even when she\u2019s gasping for air,\u201d said Sky head coach Tyler Marsh of Jaquez. \u201cShe just finds ways to be effective on both ends of the floor, and she doesn\u2019t get disgruntled or out of rhythm when things don\u2019t go her way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former No. 3 pick Kamilla Cardoso<\/a> is putting it all together, too \u2014 she\u2019s averaging a 12-point, 10.3-rebound double-double as she anchors Chicago\u2019s frontcourt. Diggins\u2019 veteran leadership has been evident, and Sheldon has played some of the best basketball of her pro career.<\/p>\n

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The Sky\u2019s strong play stood out to Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve after their 86-79 win over Minnesota.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was struck by their identity, their cohesion,\u201d she said, per Andrew Dukowitz. \u201cIt\u2019s very, very strong. Give them credit.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s lots of basketball still left to be played, but it was hard to know if the Sky\u2019s offseason moves would fit together on the court. And, if Jackson is to miss significant time, that would certainly dampen the excitement around the team\u2019s early success.<\/p>\n

Still, right now, it looks like the Chicago Sky\u2019s vision is coming to fruition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Sky were tied for the WNBA\u2019s worst record last season. Then, they traded one of their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":677708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[724,49,48,726,10947,159755,3484,1612,13053,734,736,4651,189276,3461,104252,12933,4647,82,60000,630],"class_list":["post-677707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-angel-reese","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-chicago-sky","tag-dijonai-carrington","tag-gabriela-jaquez","tag-getty-images","tag-golden-state-valkyries","tag-jacy-sheldon","tag-kamilla-cardoso","tag-minnesota-lynx","tag-natasha-cloud","tag-nbae","tag-phoenix-mercury","tag-portland-fire","tag-rickea-jackson","tag-skylar-diggins","tag-sports","tag-the-sky","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}