{"id":614395,"date":"2026-04-30T02:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T02:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/614395\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T02:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T02:22:09","slug":"angel-reese-calm-confident-in-first-game-in-chicago-since-trade-takeaways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/614395\/","title":{"rendered":"Angel Reese calm, confident in first game in Chicago since trade: Takeaways"},"content":{"rendered":"

Angel Reese played in Chicago on Wednesday evening for the first time since being traded<\/a> to the Atlanta Dream on April 6 for two first-round draft picks.<\/p>\n

The two-time All-Star, once pegged as a franchise pillar, will now serve that role for the Dream alongside Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, Brionna Jones, Naz Hillmon and Jordin Canada, all of whom signed multiyear contracts this month.<\/p>\n

Attendance at Wintrust Arena was lackluster for the preseason game, but when Reese took the court in the Dream\u2019s 87-78 win over the Sky, the ovation she received was a reflection of the fan favorite she was for two seasons in Chicago. At the first timeout, the Sky played a tribute video that brought a number of fans to their feet.<\/p>\n

In two seasons with the Sky, Reese averaged 14.1 points and 12.9 rebounds. Against her former team, Reese looked poised and confident, finishing with 8 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists while playing fewer than 13 minutes.<\/p>\n

Atlanta coach Karl Smesko said pregame he intended to play his starters 15 to 20 minutes. He ultimately kept four of his five starters \u2014 Reese, Gray, Howard and Canada \u2014 on the bench for the entire second half.<\/p>\n

Are the Dream title contenders?<\/p>\n

Reese\u2019s addition to Atlanta\u2019s roster has heightened contender conversations around the franchise.<\/p>\n

The Dream are one of a few teams that have roster continuity after re-signing Howard, Jones, Hillmon and Canada, the core that led Atlanta to a third straight postseason appearance. The Dream, however, never made it out of the first round during that run. Last year, they lost to a depleted Indiana Fever team.<\/p>\n

The trade for Reese, however, could be the move that gets them over the hump.<\/p>\n

Smesko doesn\u2019t care to characterize his team as a contender, but he\u2019s aware of the outside expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s out there,\u201d Smesko said pregame. \u201cBut I\u2019m trying to get us to take a more condensed view of just getting better every day. We want to be the best at getting better, and hopefully, through the course of the season, we make the most improvement. If you\u2019re lucky enough to make the playoffs, anything can happen. You just want to be in the best position to give yourself a chance. The way you do that is by focusing on things daily.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early absences and concerns for the Sky<\/p>\n

The Sky are navigating a slew of injuries as the 2026 season approaches.<\/p>\n

Their lengthy injury report included starting point guard Skylar Diggins, who was out due to personal reasons, as well as Azur\u00e1 Stevens (knee), Courtney Vandersloot (knee), DiJonai Carrington (foot) and Elizabeth Williams (reconditioning). Stevens, Vandersloot, Carrington and Williams were on the Sky\u2019s bench, while Diggins was not with the team.<\/p>\n

Without Diggins leading the offense, the Sky looked outmatched against the Dream\u2019s starters. But regardless of the Sky\u2019s absences, center Kamilla Cardoso\u2019s limited output was an early indication that the team goes as she does. She finished with just 3 points while shooting 1-for-5 from the field and committing five turnovers. On the defensive end, she came away with two blocks but was a step late protecting the rim.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Angel Reese played in Chicago on Wednesday evening for the first time since being traded to the Atlanta…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614396,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[3444,438,99,434],"class_list":["post-614395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-atlanta-dream","tag-chicago-sky","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}