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Chicago Sky, Cheyenne Parker agree to a two-year deal

By Howard Megdal

UNCASVILLE, CONNECTICUT- August 12: Cheyenne Parker #32 of the Chicago Sky drives to the basket defended by Betnijah Laney #44 of the Connecticut Sun and Chiney Ogwumike #13 of the Connecticut Sun during the Connecticut Sun Vs Chicago Sky, WNBA regular season game at Mohegan Sun Arena on August 12, 2018 in Uncasville, Connecticut. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
UNCASVILLE, CONNECTICUT- August 12: Cheyenne Parker #32 of the Chicago Sky drives to the basket defended by Betnijah Laney #44 of the Connecticut Sun and Chiney Ogwumike #13 of the Connecticut Sun during the Connecticut Sun Vs Chicago Sky, WNBA regular season game at Mohegan Sun Arena on August 12, 2018 in Uncasville, Connecticut. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images) /
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An emerging star is staying in Chicago.

After a breakout 2018, Cheyenne Parker, 26, is sticking around where it happened, agreeing to a two-year deal with the Chicago Sky on WNBA free agency’s first day of signings, according to a league source.

Parker, in her fourth season last year, found a regular role in Amber Stocks’ rotation and took full advantage of it. The 6’4 forward and Queens, NY product shot 53 percent from the field, extended her shot out beyond the three-point line, and became a focal point of the second unit on Chicago’s entertaining team.

Parker’s player efficiency rose from a respectable 12.7 in 2017 to 19.1 in 2018, the kind of production that often lands players in the all star game.

She also cut her turnovers dramatically, her rate dropping from 19.8 to 14.3, and her block rate topped four percent for the first time in her career. Her rebounding percentage rated fifth in the entire league last year.

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She earned the trust of Stocks, her coach, though she had been originally drafted by Pokey Chatman.

“She’s a great person, a great teammate,” Stocks said of Parker back in July. “She’s got a great support system with her family, and I think that makes a big difference when she has adversity. Everybody has adversity, every team, every player, and she has a nice, inspiring ability to push through adversity — mental, physical, whatever it may be. And I think that’s another thing that makes her a special player.”

But with Stocks out and James Wade now the Chicago coach and GM, it means that a third Sky executive has seen what Parker is capable of doing in this league as she enters her fifth season.

Parker credited much of her improvement in 2018 to some skills she discovered and honed during the 2017-18 WNBA offseason, when she was playing with Wisla Krakow in Poland.

“I think just developing mentally and physically and getting the experience,” Parker told me last summer. “You know, playing overseas really helped, because I got to play against some top players and it kind of just helped with my confidence and just being more composed and poised, and so, that carried over into the season with Amber giving me a lot more responsibility this season.”

Now, with all but Allie Quigley re-signed among Chicago’s starters from last year, and Parker back in the fold, it looks like Wade is going to spend less time restructuring the roster, and more implementing changes to try and coax the improvement from the players already present.

Parker’s certainly a good bet on that front.

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