Lottery picks are consequential in any draft, but the 2027 and 2028 lotteries hold a different weight because of projected No. 1 picks JuJu Watkins of USC and Sarah Strong of Connecticut.<\/p>\n
Both players are considered transformational, pro-ready stars whose arrival in the WNBA has been anticipated since before they even made their college debuts. This might feel a bit repetitive in a league that welcomed No. 1 picks Caitlin Clark in 2024 and Paige Bueckers in 2025, but Watkins and Strong are dynamic players who should be instant stars.<\/p>\n
Without owning their first-round pick in either draft, the Sky don\u2019t have a likely path to landing either star, unless both the Sky and Mystics miss the playoffs this year. The Sky do own the Atlanta Dream\u2019s next two first-rounders from the Angel Reese trade<\/a>, but the Dream are projected to be title contenders with their picks likely falling well outside the lottery.<\/p>\n The Sky finished in the lottery the last two years after going a combined 23-61 in 2024 and \u201925. If this trend continues, by trading away his upcoming first-rounders, Pagliocca risked pulling the Sky out of contention for either Watkins or Strong.<\/p>\n Why? The short answer comes down to organizational ethos. At his core, Pagliocca doesn\u2019t believe in planning to lose. The Sky won\u2019t tank under this front office, something he has emphatically stated since he was hired after the 2023 season.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to remain in win-now mode as long as I\u2019m here,\u201d Pagliocca said Wednesday in a news conference introducing new players.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to understand how much losing is necessary to land a No. 1 pick in the WNBA. The Sky have yet to have the top pick after more than two decades in the league \u2014 and for good reason. Teams such as the Dallas Wings (2025-26) and Indiana Fever (2023-24) that landed back-to-back No. 1 picks did so by losing at an alarming rate.<\/p>\n First, a team has to be one of the seven teams to miss the playoffs (and it was five teams last year and four before that pre-expansion). But unlike the NBA, draft lottery odds are based on a two-year record in an effort to prevent serious tanking. That means the Sky likely would have had to lose 34 or more games each of the next two seasons to make a 2028 lottery pick worth their while.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to understand the sequencing of these decisions. The Sky aren\u2019t suddenly trying to win because they don\u2019t want the 2027 pick swap to be triggered; Pagliocca made that trade because he didn\u2019t believe the Sky would finish behind the Mystics and felt they weren\u2019t risking the loss of a higher draft pick. It\u2019s a simple gamble but an essential one.<\/p>\n After three straight losing seasons and two straight out of the playoffs, the Sky never were going to settle in for tanking regardless of the quality of the potential No. 1 picks. Tanking is a risk in the WNBA, in which the drop-off between a No. 1 and No. 5 pick is often significant. It\u2019s even harder during expansion seasons, when new teams often finish at the bottom of the standings because of a lack of experience and depth.<\/p>\n But still, a team should keep its own first-rounder as a fallback plan, right?<\/p>\n Even if a front office isn\u2019t attempting to build through the lottery, first-round picks are crucial bargaining chips in future trades. And a 2028 pick with the possibility of being a lottery pick could gain value if Watkins (or other top-rated players) opt to stay in college for an additional year. On the flip side, the Sky\u2019s pick could begin to devalue if they win enough games this season, deflating their potential lottery odds.<\/p>\n There are risks either way. If the Sky miss the playoffs this year and the Mystics don\u2019t, the Sky will be sending away another lottery pick. Perhaps a better offer could have been found with a little more patience.<\/p>\n But Pagliocca is a dealer, an executive who prefers to stay on the move and keep busy on the phones \u2014 and, at times, perhaps take on extra risk as a result.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know, sometimes the mood strikes me and you\u2019ve got to go make a move,\u201d Pagliocca joked.<\/p>\n This style can hurt the Sky. That was clear in this year\u2019s draft, when the Sky wound up forking over the No. 2 pick to the Minnesota Lynx as a result of the 2024 trade to move up one spot and draft Reese. A 10-34 season in 2025 was hard enough; not recouping the silver lining is even worse. And that deal stings even more given how short-lived Reese\u2019s tenure in Chicago<\/a> ultimately became.<\/p>\n But Pagliocca couldn\u2019t let that lost venture cloud his guiding principles. And no matter the allure of future draft picks, planning to lose doesn\u2019t appeal to free agents.<\/p>\n Pagliocca knew as much when he began pursuing Azur\u00e1 Stevens<\/a> and Skylar Diggins<\/a> at the start of free agency. Both players held personal reasons to come to Chicago, but neither would have bought in without faith that the Sky were committed to winning immediately rather than hedging their bets on the long term.<\/p>\n \u201cThey need to feel confident that we\u2019re going to build a team around them,\u201d Pagliocca said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to deal with Skylar Diggins every night if she doesn\u2019t have players that she can go to war with. We made sure they understood the vision.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"USC](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WNBA_All-Star_NIL_Impact_Bsaketball_50928_ba015f-1.jpg\")
USC guard JuJu Watkins drives against Purdue on Jan. 22, 2025, in West Lafayette, Ind. (Michael Conroy\/AP)<\/p>\n![\"Connecticut](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP_All_America_Basketball_32761-1.jpg\")
Connecticut forward Sarah Strong drives against Villanova on Jan. 15, 2026, in Storrs, Conn. (AP Photo\/Jessica Hill)<\/p>\n