Coming off the franchise’s worst season since 2006, the Chicago Sky were expected to undergo a full rebuild. Especially after Angel Reese publicly called out the front office and the squad. “We have to get good players. We have to get great players. That’s a non-negotiable for me,” she said. Things have calmed between the two but the expectation for improvement hasn’t changed. Ahead of the 2026 draft, they have made a major decision in the completely opposite direction of a reconstruction. 

Last year, the Sky made plenty of offseason moves that did not turn out to be fruitful. Chicago traded their 2025 No. 3 pick to the Washington Mystics for Ariel Atkins. General manager Jeff Pagliocca made subsequent “win now” moves by acquiring veterans Courtney Vandersloot, Kia Nurse and Rebecca Allen. Then, that squad finished 10-34. So it’s safe to say those did not work out. And now, Chicago has made its first major call of the 2026 offseason.

The Sky made two trades with expansion teams Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo ahead of the expansion draft. The Sky traded the No. 17 pick in the 2026 Rookie draft to the Fire and the No. 26 pick to the Tempo for both teams forgoing Sky players during the expansion draft. Basically, the Sky traded 2 draft picks to retain control over their current squad. The Sky still have the No. 5, No. 21, and No. 32 overall picks remaining in their locker. 

That’s not the kind of trade you see everyday. That decision only makes sense within the league’s expansion draft rules. The rules give the expansion teams two ways to make trades. The second one being, “An agreement to select (or not select) a particular player from such a trading team’s Unprotected List.” Now, the Sky don’t have to worry about their 5 protected player list, which they were supposed to submit by 28th March. But those lists are not publicly available. 

This trade leads to two possibilities. Both the expansion teams would rather have late second-round picks over anyone that is on the Chicago pool. Considering their 2025 record and the way they played, it’s likely. Or, the Sky don’t think this upcoming draft class is deep enough to sacrifice any of their current players. Admittedly, it’s unlikely that any of the second-round picks will become the centerpiece of this team or make an immediate impact. Regardless, this trade has certainly raised eyebrows in the WNBA world. 

Chicago Sky’s Expansion Draft Trade Questioned 

Chicago Sky was essentially a broken team last year. It was not only about their record as the franchise looked out of sorts and without a plan. Last year, Chicago was named as the worst-run franchise in the WNBA by the players. They finished above the Connecticut Sun, which is saying something. “A lot of stuff always seems to be going on there,” one player told the Athletic. And this trade just amplifies those talks. 

“Chicago has the worst expansion draft player pool by far. Why in the world would they trade No. 26?” WNBA scout Hunter Cruse wrote. Beyond a few bright spots, the squad lacks depth. Sky’s best players are rookies, Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. Then they have Ariel Atkins, who averaged 13.1 points and 3.6 assists per game. 

Their fourth-best scorer was Courtney Vandersloot, who missed most of the season with an ACL injury. No one apart from those four really impressed so they could have just protected them without giving up the picks. In addition, there is no real motivation to wait for the 2027 draft either. 

“The Sky are definitely not incentivized to tank,” Robin Lundberg said. “The Sky doesn’t control their pick because they traded a pick swap to the Washington Mystics in order to get Ariel Atkins as part of that deal.”

So, even though you have a very talented 2027 draft with players like Madison Booker, Sarah Strong and Hannah Hidalgo, the Sky can’t afford to wait around for those. There could be valid reasons for this trade. The financial dynamics in this new system might need tweaking, or they could have planned to trade some of their players in the future. Or, they just want more time to plan for the free agency. The real intentions will only be revealed once the final roster is finalized. Either way, this is a gamble the Sky can’t afford to get wrong.