ATLANTA — During her first news conference with the Atlanta Dream, Angel Reese was surrounded by the love — and the talent — she felt was missing over her first two WNBA seasons, both of them spent with the Chicago Sky.
Atlanta acquired Reese, the No. 7 selection of the 2024 draft, in an April 6 trade in which Chicago obtained first-round picks in 2027 and 2028. The Dream also received the right to swap second-round picks with the Sky in 2028.
Reese was one of the league’s most recognizable stars from the moment she joined after a standout collegiate career that included leading LSU to the 2023 NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament title. She led the league in rebounds each of her seasons with the Sky and was selected for the WNBA All-Star Game both times.
“I’m always going be grateful for that, because I did experience a lot of great things,” the 6-foot-3 forward from the Baltimore area said Friday of her time in Chicago. “I enjoyed being able to grow within my first two years, but I wanted more. I love to win, I love to compete, and I wanted to be surrounded by people that can make me better.
“And I am not satisfied with what I am as a player, and I felt like being around these kinds of players would help me be better. I can help them in different ways to help them win, and that’s all I ever wanted. I don’t care about anything else that comes with it.”
Reese, who also said she was grateful “to come to an organization that really cared about their players,” was joined at the news conference by the five players Atlanta has re-signed this offseason.
Three-time WNBA All-Star guard Rhyne Howard, who was the No. 1 pick of the 2022 draft and that season’s rookie of the year, said Reese could help the Dream win what would be the franchise’s first league title in its 19th season.
“Angel, I think is special for us because she could be exactly what we were missing,” said Howard, a former Chattanooga-area prep standout at Bradley Central.
Reese averaged 14.7 points and 12.6 rebounds last season. She joins a team that won a franchise-record 30 games last season under first-year head coach Karl Smesko before losing to the Indiana Fever in the first round of the playoffs. The Dream have won just one playoff game this decade and haven’t won a postseason series since 2016.
Atlanta also re-signed Jordin Canada, Allisha Gray, Naz Hillmon and Brionna Jones.
Gray finished fourth in MVP voting last season, when Howard became the fastest player in WNBA history to make 300 career 3-pointers, while Hillmon was named the league’s sixth player of the year and Jones was an All-Star for the fourth time.
The trade to Atlanta came after Reese expressed frustration late last season with Chicago on the way to a 10-34 final record. She told the Chicago Tribune the Sky needed to improve their roster and added she “might have to move in a different direction and do what’s best for me” if that didn’t happen. She later apologized to the team for the comments.
The Sky suspended Reese for one half for comments deemed “detrimental to the team.” The team also held her out for its final three games with a back injury, raising speculation about her future in Chicago.
Reese said the interest from the Dream “was mutual on both sides, and I was able to choose a destination I really wanted to go to.”
Atlanta general manager Dan Padover said adding Reese capped a successful offseason.
“When we went into this offseason, we had two main priorities,” Padover said. “That was retain our core and to remain opportunistic. And over the last week, I’m thrilled to say we did both. Keeping these players in Atlanta was just so important to us. And the most special thing is that they want to stay here.
“And then to have someone like Angel come in and say, ‘Hey guys, I love what you’re doing. I love that city. Let me jump in here.’ And to have this whole group as well as the others that are here today come together to try to build something and win a championship, that’s what sports is all about.”
Atlanta will open its preseason schedule at Chicago on April 29. The Dream’s regular-season opener is also on the road, against the Minnesota Lynx on May 10.