The 2025 season has been a nightmare for the Chicago Sky so far. Despite the organization’s best efforts to build an improved roster around Angel Reese, Chicago is still one of the worst teams in the league. Courtney Vandersloot going down with an ACL tear only made things more difficult.
Amid the team’s early struggles, new head coach Tyler Marsh hasn’t been able to figure out how to utilize rookie Hailey Van Lith yet. When Vandersloot was available, Van Lith was stuck in the rotation behind her and Rachel Banham. When Vandersloot first suffered her injury, Marsh opted to rely on other veterans, largely leaving Van Lith on the bench.
After a big performance from Van Lith against the Connecticut Sun, it seems obvious that the perfect role for the rookie is to act as the Sky’s sixth player.
Van Lith was great off the bench against Connecticut
After barely playing in the Sky’s 18-point loss to the Atlanta Dream, Hailey Van Lith was the first player off the bench against the Connecticut Sun. She entered the game with about 4:30 left in the first quarter and immediately helped the Sky go on a run. Just a few seconds into her first stint, Van Lith hit a big three.
Van Lith played 24 minutes, the second-most of the season, and put together a career game. Van Lith finished the game with 16 points on 75 percent shooting from the field, five rebounds, one assist, and one block. She was the Sky’s leading scorer and recorded a game-high plus-minus of 23.
For the next few games, the Sky should make Van Lith their sixth player and see if she can keep this kind of production up. The Sky currently rank twelfth in points per game. None of the team’s starters are putting up huge numbers. Ariel Atkins currently leads the team in scoring with 13.2 points. So, the Sky could use an energizer and scoring boost off the bench to fuel the offense when things get stale.
If Van Lith can be that consistently, it won’t only help the Sky win some games. It would also be her key to a bigger role. As the only real point guard left on the Sky’s roster right now, one could argue for Van Lith to start. However, coming off the bench and boosting the team’s offense in limited minutes seems like a better role for the rookie at this point in her development.
Developing their young players should be the Sky’s focus now
With a 3-10 start to the season and Vandersloot out, the Sky’s hopes of going to the playoffs are pretty much lost. So, the team should focus on building for the future now. For the Sky, that means developing Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso, and Hailey Van Lith.
The latter, in particular, will need to see consistent minutes to improve. Vandersloot was never going to be a part of the Sky’s long-term future. Van Lith could be, though, and needs a bigger role now that Vandersloot will be sidelined for the rest of the season.