The Chicago Sky have had their fair share of great talents: Elena Delle Donne, Sylvia Fowles, Candace Parker, Kahleah Copper, and Angel Reese, to name a few. They lost all of them and will have to rebuild around Kamilla Cardoso and Ajsa Sivka after trading Angel Reese to the Atlanta Dream.
The 2027 WNBA Draft is the perfect opportunity for a team like Chicago to land its next superstar. JuJu Watkins could be in that draft alongside Chinese teenager Zhang Ziyu, Mikaylah Williams, Madison Booker, Hannah Hidalgo, and MiLaysia Fulwiley, among others.
The Sky finished the last two seasons with some of the worst records in the WNBA. With Angel Reese gone and little motivation for big-time free agents to sign with the team, they will likely be just as bad or even worse this season, which would vastly boost their lottery chances for 2027. There’s just one problem: the Mystics have the right to swap first-round picks with the Sky in 2027, which could cost Chicago a generational talent like Watkins.
The Ariel Atkins trade still haunts the Sky
The Sky traded for Ariel Atkins in a desperate attempt to make the playoffs in 2025. They gave up the number-three pick in 2025, a 2027 second-round pick, and the rights to swap 2027 first-round picks.
That trade looked bad as soon as Sonia Citron emerged as an All-Star and it became clear that the Sky wouldn’t be a playoff contender last season.
It will look so much worse when the Mystics land someone like Watkins, Booker, or Hidalgo by swapping picks with the Sky, thanks to a trade that brought Chicago nothing but disappointment.
The Sky got another first-round pick from Atlanta
The Sky will have two first-round picks in the 2027 draft: the one they got from Atlanta in the Angel Reese trade and, unless the Mystics somehow find themselves in a better lottery spot, Washington’s first-round pick. What that pick will look like all depends on the direction the organization plans to move in after firing GM Jamila Wideman.
The Dream’s 2027 first-round pick won’t be a high pick. Atlanta was excellent last season and also promises to be a playoff team this year, so the Sky will only get a late first-round pick out of them.
A late first-round pick can still bring a talented young player to town, but it’s certainly not good enough to land the franchise’s next big star. Cardoso is a solid player, but she’s not a superstar (yet, maybe), and Sivka hasn’t even played a single WNBA game. Unless one of those two has a mind-blowing 2026 season, the Sky will need to find someone else to hand the keys to the franchise to.