{"id":691625,"date":"2026-06-08T13:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T13:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/691625\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T13:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T13:30:10","slug":"skylar-diggins-frustration-shows-sky-issues-remain-after-angel-reese-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/691625\/","title":{"rendered":"Skylar Diggins\u2019 Frustration Shows Sky Issues Remain After Angel Reese Exit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5n\">Just a few weeks ago, it seemed like the Chicago Sky had made all the right offseason choices. They were winning with their new-look roster, starting the season 4-1, Rickea Jackson played like an All-Star, and Skylar Diggins ran the team like the veteran star she is. Diggins was a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/onsi\/womens-fastbreak\/wnba\/sky-finally-take-step-toward-fixing-what-went-wrong-angel-reese-era\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">big get in free agency<\/a> for the Sky. Chicago hadn\u2019t been a destination for All-Stars these past few seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5q\">Since then, things have changed dramatically. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/onsi\/womens-fastbreak\/news\/rickea-jackson-acl-injury-is-major-blow-to-chicago-sky-win-now-hopes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Jackson tore her ACL<\/a> just four games into the season, and Chicago has accumulated a 1-6 record without her.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5t\">To make matters worse, the Sky are now right back where they were with Angel Reese last season: the team is losing, and Skylar Diggins, their biggest star, is growing frustrated with the team\u2019s direction\u2014something GM Jeff Pagliocca explicitly <a href=\"https:\/\/m.youtube.com\/live\/zI46QnWcEas?si=lvqmDepcq7FCcujW&amp;t=2223\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">said he wanted to avoid<\/a> in the introductory press conference for Diggins and the Sky\u2019s other additions. The roster may look completely different, but the same issues that caused a rift between Reese and the organization are still very much alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Skylar Diggins voiced her frustration after the Sky\u2019s loss to the Toronto Tempo<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/01ktkk3n2mqaseatm993.jpg\" alt=\"Skylar Diggins, Chicago Sky\" title=\"Skylar Diggins, Chicago Sky\" width=\"360\" height=\"240\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"66\"\/><\/p>\n<p>May 27, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Sky guard Skylar Diggins (4) brings the ball up court against the Toronto Tempo during the first half at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6a\">Diggins was visibly\u2014and understandably\u2014frustrated after an 85-68 loss to the Toronto Tempo, the Sky\u2019s seventh loss in eleven games.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6d\">\u201cWe gotta have more maturity and more leadership on and off the floor from the players on the floor and from the staff as well,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/m.youtube.com\/watch?v=g3mKzsIfXQA&amp;pp=ugUHEgVlbi1VU9IHCQlAAqO1ajebQw%3D%3D\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Diggins said<\/a> in the postgame media availability, per the Sky\u2019s YouTube channel.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6g\">She also added, \u201cIt\u2019s been an extremely frustrating experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6j\">When asked about the Sky\u2019s struggle to execute in the halfcourt and halftime adjustments, she said, \u201cThat\u2019s a Tyler question. Ask Tyler.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6m\">Those comments don\u2019t inspire a ton of confidence in Diggins\u2019s desire to stay in Chicago long-term if the team doesn\u2019t find a way to turn things around soon. Diggins is 35 years old. She still has plenty of good basketball left in her, but her window of competing for a championship won\u2019t be open much longer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Sky gave up too much to be in this position\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/01ktkjzy12zew4qs0k6n.jpg\" alt=\"Tyler Marsh, Chicago Sky\" title=\"Tyler Marsh, Chicago Sky\" width=\"360\" height=\"240\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"6z\"\/><\/p>\n<p>May 15, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Chicago Sky head coach Tyler Marsh against the Phoenix Mercury in the second half at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"73\">Losing Rickea Jackson was a tough blow, and the Sky are also still playing without DiJonai Carrington and Courtney Vandersloot. Still, a team that features Skylar Diggins, Natasha Cloud, Azur\u00e1 Stevens, and Kamilla Cardoso should be better than a 4-7 record that has them sitting well outside the playoff picture. If they continue to lose, they will be in a hole too deep to dig themselves out of.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"76\">The worst thing is, the organization gave up too much to build this veteran-heavy win-now team to just continue to lose game after game. In the last few years, they gave up the number-three pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, lost their second overall pick in this year\u2019s draft to the Minnesota Lynx due to draft day trades to get Angel Reese and Hailey Van Lith, traded Reese to the Atlanta Dream, and waived Van Lith.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"79\">The Sky acquired some draft assets in exchange for Reese, but considering how good Atlanta is doing, those picks will be late first-round selections. Chicago doesn\u2019t control its own 2027 first-round pick either. They gave the Washington Mystics swap rights when they traded for Ariel Atkins. The Mystics sit just one spot ahead of the Sky in the standings at the moment, but if JuJu Watkins enters the 2027 WNBA Draft, being a lottery team and not having full control over your own pick could be a franchise-altering gut punch.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just a few weeks ago, it seemed like the Chicago Sky had made all the right offseason choices.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":691626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-691625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691625","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=691625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/691626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}