{"id":623537,"date":"2026-05-04T20:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T20:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/623537\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T20:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T20:20:09","slug":"chicago-sky-sign-natasha-cloud-to-1-year-deal-cut-hailey-van-lith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/623537\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Sky sign Natasha Cloud to 1-year deal, cut Hailey Van Lith"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Natasha Cloud\u2019s free agency saga finally came to an end.<\/p>\n<p>The former Liberty guard signed with the Chicago Sky, the team announced Monday, just four days before the WNBA season begins.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNatasha is one of the best passers and defenders in our league,\u201d Sky general manager Jeff Pagliocca said in a statement. \u201cShe fits in with the other proven winners on our roster.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cloud\u2019s signing came just hours after the team waived Hailey Van Lith, the No. 11 pick in last year\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n<p>Peculiarly, the Sky traded draft picks to the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo ahead of the expansion draft to prevent either team from taking any of Chicago\u2019s unprotected players, including Van Lith.<\/p>\n<p>Cloud had become the center of debate as the unrestricted free agent remained unsigned heading into WNBA training camps.<\/p>\n<p>The Athletic reported that Cloud had turned down at least one offer during free agency.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb publicly backed Cloud, saying, \u201cShe belongs in the WNBA.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39278118\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/los-angeles-sparks-vs-new-107580219.jpg\" alt=\"Natasha Cloud of the New York Liberty claps during a game.\" class=\"wp-image-39278118\"  \/>Natasha Cloud claps during a New York Liberty game in 2025. Heather Khalifa for the NY Post<\/p>\n<p>He also said he wanted to \u201cdispel\u201d speculation that Cloud wasn\u2019t a good teammate in New York or that the Liberty didn\u2019t re-sign her because of her pro-Palestine and anti-ICE activism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat (Cloud) stands for is what I stand for. I believe in speaking up for the voiceless,\u201d Kolb said. \u201cThere is no better embodiment of that than Natasha Cloud, and she puts her life on the line every single day with saying what she believes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Liberty considered re-signing Cloud before Satou Sabally entered the picture. In the end, the Liberty didn\u2019t have the positional need and financial flexibility to bring back Cloud.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39278139\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/user-expressly-acknowledges-agrees-downloading-126673199.jpg\" alt=\"Hailey Van Lith of the Chicago Sky dribbles the ball during a preseason game.\" class=\"wp-image-39278139\"  \/>Hailey Van Lith brings the ball up during the Chicago Sky\u2019s preseason game on April 29, 2026. Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>The Sky are Cloud\u2019s fourth team in four years. She\u2019ll fill the team\u2019s need for a starting point guard while Courtney Vandersloot rehabs from a knee injury that sidelined her for most of last season. How Cloud, Vandersloot and Skylar Diggins will share ballhandling duties once Vandersloot returns will be fascinating to see.<\/p>\n<p>The 10-year veteran spent the first eight seasons of her career with the Washington Mystics, who drafted Cloud in the second round of the 2015 draft.<\/p>\n<p>Cloud signed a two-year deal with the Phoenix Mercury before the 2024 season. A year later, the Mercury traded Cloud to the Connecticut Sun in pursuit of Sabally. Cloud was dealt to the Liberty ahead of last season in exchange for two first-round picks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In 2025, Cloud averaged 10.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 41 games.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Cloud is expected to report to training camp in Chicago soon. The Sky open the season Saturday against the Fire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Natasha Cloud\u2019s free agency saga finally came to an end. The former Liberty guard signed with the Chicago&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[438,436,99,434],"class_list":["post-623537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-chicago-sky","tag-new-york-liberty","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623537","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=623537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}