Ahead of Friday’s WNBA expansion draft, the Sky gave up a modest amount of draft capital to ensure the expansion teams would not select any players from their unprotected list.
The first deal was a second-round swap with the Portland Fire, sending the Sky’s No. 17 pick in exchange for Portland’s No. 21 pick. They also sent their No. 26 pick—the final selection in the second round—to the Toronto Tempo.
In return, the Tempo and Fire agreed not to select any player from the Sky’s unprotected list in the expansion draft.
These deals show that the Sky are prioritizing existing players—specifically holding onto the rights to their 2025 draft picks, Hailey Van Lith, Maddy Westbeld and Aicha Coulibaly, along with point guard Sevgi Uzun.
Several of those players likely ended up on the Sky’s unprotected list. Teams can protect only five players in the expansion draft, and Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso, Ariel Atkins and Ajša Sivka should have taken four of those spots.
The Tempo and Fire were unlikely to select any of the Sky’s unrestricted free agents, which include Courtney Vandersloot, Elizabeth Williams, Rachel Banham, Rebecca Allen and Michaela Onyenwere.
For now, the Sky hold onto their top asset in the upcoming college draft: the No. 5 pick. That could yield college stars such as Kiki Rice (UCLA), Lauren Betts (UCLA) or Flau’jae Johnson (LSU), according to recent mock drafts.
Signing the biggest stars remains a pipe dream for the Sky despite how badly they need it. But they can target “bubble players”: starters on some teams, depth on others.
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First up is an expansion draft for the two new teams — Toronto and Portland. Then it’s free agency and the college draft. The season begins May 8.
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The takeaway should not be the results but what was done to get the results. The fight, the stance, the demands, the resilience, the belief. The way.
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