WNBA Offseason Primer: Chicago Sky

January 15 marked the official start of WNBA free agency. The WNBA released an official list of core players, reserved players, unrestricted free agents and restricted free agents.

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With the help of The Summitt’s WNBA salaries database compiled by our own Howard Megdal, we’ll take a look at each WNBA team going into free agency, aiming to answer the following questions:

Which players are free agents?
Which players are still under contract?
Who are some potential prospects worth targeting in the upcoming WNBA Draft?
Which players on the free agent markets would be good fits to add for 2018?

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – AUGUST 4: Courtney Vandersloot

The Chicago Sky finished last season with a record of 12-22. Chicago stuck around in the playoff hunt despite a 1-7 start. Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley each missed the team’s first three games. Like the San Antonio Stars, the Sky were without two of their best players right out of the gate.

Vandersloot missed three games in June as well while she was away playing in EuroBasket. Chicago’s most promising stretch came right before the All-Star break. They won five of six, including victories over Minnesota, New York and Los Angeles. Imani Boyette and Tamera Young were shipped to Atlanta after the team lost three straight out of the break in exchange for Jordan Hooper and Atlanta’s 2018 first round pick. The Sky won four of their next six but dropped their final four contests.

The team appeared to have found something offensively once Vandersloot, Quigley (2017 All-Star and three-point contest champion), Stefanie Dolson (2017 All-Star) and Jessica Breland got the chance to play big minutes together. Head coach Amber Stocks freed up Vandersloot and Quigley to each create off the bounce — both players would often orchestrate a pick and roll on the same possession.

Vandersloot was two three-pointers and two free throws away from posting 50/40/90 shooting splits, which made that possible. She set a new WNBA high with her 8.1 assists per game in 2017, surpassing Ticha Penicheiro’s 8.0 per game in 2002. Quigley’s assist numbers also shot up, and she connected on a career-best 43% of her three-point attempts.

Now let’s break down Chicago’s situation — current free agents, players still under contract and the status of their 2018 draft picks.

Unrestricted free agents (UFAs): F Jessica Breland, G Cappie Pondexter

Restricted free agents (RFAs): F/C Stefanie Dolson, F Jordan Hooper, F Amber Harris

Reserved players: F/C Adut Bulgak, F Bashaara Graves

Core player: G Allie Quigley

Players under contract:

G Courtney Vandersloot through 2018
G Kahleah Copper through 2019 (team option)
F Cheyenne Parker through 2018
G Makayla Epps through 2020 (team option)
F/C Alaina Coates (contract details unknown — 2017 2nd overall pick missed 2017 season recovering from ankle surgery)
G Jamierra Faulkner (contract details unknown — suffered torn ACL last spring, missed 2017 season, last played for CHI in 2016)

2018 draft picks: No. 3, No. 4 (via Atlanta), No. 27

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – AUGUST 4: Stefanie Dolson

The Sky will be fascinating to follow on draft night. We should know by then how the free agency process plays out for Quigley, Dolson (The Summitt’s No. 2 RFA) and Breland — all crucial pieces if they hope to make the playoffs soon. Making a strong push to retain Pondexter could indicate that they’re leaning more towards using both picks on wings/forwards.

Las Vegas and Indiana’s draft night decisions will have a big impact on the Sky. Each of those teams would certainly love to have A’ja Wilson. It’s unlikely a scorer as accomplished and talented as Kelsey Mitchell slips out of that top four. If Chicago is able to lock Breland up (The Summitt’s No. 5 UFA), I’d take wings with both of those picks. Kahleah Copper is set to return on the wing for the Sky, so using one of those picks on a guard would make sense as well.

Players to possibly target in free agency:

Chicago could attempt to entice UFA’s Alex Montgomery and Shenise Johnson with playing time, potentially as their starting three. Kia Vaughn and Carolyn Swords, also unrestricted, would provide some value as backup fives. The Sky know what they have in Dolson and Breland — a seasoned backup center could definitely carve out a regular role on this team, though Coates may prove ready to absorb all that additional playing time up front.
RFA Jordan Hooper would be worth retaining for the value she adds with her shooting alone. (It’s understood at this point that I think Bria Hartley would be a great fit with every team.) Chicago could perhaps try to get into the mix for Natasha Howard and go with a three player rotation at the four/five spots.
On the reserved market, Cayla George and Damiris Dantas would be interesting fits with how Chicago plays. George was totally out of the Mercury rotation by the semifinals. Dantas finding her outside stroke with the Sky would make for a very interesting fit. Like with Howard in their forward rotation, Erica Wheeler would fit nicely to round out a three guard rotation with Vandersloot and Quigley.

What are your expectations for the Sky in 2018? Which players would you target with their first round picks, and how close is their core to making a deep playoff run?