When the Chicago Sky drafted Hailey Van Lith with the eleventh pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, it seemed obvious that they wanted her to develop behind starting point guard Courtney Vandersloot. However, Van Lith’s minutes have been up and down all season long. She has only played 24 games so far, averaging 12.9 minutes, 3.9 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game.
Seeing Van Lith on the bench a lot made sense early in the season. The Sky wanted to compete for a playoff spot and trusted their veterans to get them there. That dream was shattered a long time ago. With injuries to Courtney Vandersloot, Ariel Atkins, and Angel Reese, the Sky quickly lost any chance at playoff contention they ever had.
With no chance of punching a ticket to the playoffs, the Sky could have used the opportunity to play and develop Hailey Van Lith. The rookie still didn’t get consistent minutes, though. Sometimes, she gets to play 20 minutes. Other times, she only sees fewer than 10 minutes.
With the season coming to a close, the Sky are running out of time to give Van Lith more developmental minutes. Whether the organization likes it or not, this is a lost season, and the only thing to hope for now is that their young players can improve and prepare for a better 2026 season.
The Sky continue to rely on veterans
When Vandersloot first went down with a torn ACL, a path to more consistent minutes for Van Lith opened up. Instead, head coach Tyler Marsh continued to rely on veterans to play heavy minutes. Rachel Banham, who is usually more of a shooting guard, slid into the starting point guard spot, and the Sky signed Sevgi Uzun, who has played at least 18 minutes in four of her five games with the team.
Van Lith missed some time with an ankle injury recently, but even when she is healthy, she doesn’t have any minutes guaranteed. After playing 17 minutes against the Phoenix Mercury, she only played three combined minutes in the next two games. There was also a string of games in early July during which Van Lith didn’t play double-digit minutes at all.
Tyler Marsh praised Van Lith after the Sky’s loss to the Fever
Van Lith got a chance to play increased minutes against the Indiana Fever—another sizeable loss even though the Fever were without all of their three point guards. She played 15 minutes and finished the game with six points, one rebound, and three assists.
After the game, Tyler Marsh said, “We wanted to give Hailey a look, and I thought that Hailey did a decent job in the time that she had.”
If Marsh thought Van Lith did a decent job against the Fever, she may get a shot to play significant minutes again when the Sky meet the Connecticut Sun. Chicago doesn’t have a young guard on the roster other than Van Lith, and their lottery pick is going to the Minnesota Lynx. So, until the Sky can land another promising young guard to develop alongside Reese and Cardoso, they should give Van Lith a chance to get reps and develop to finish the season.