For Hailey Van Lith, all it took was just four hours to shift her base from Chicago to Connecticut. After a promising preseason tipoff, the Sky did what they have done throughout this offseason: take the hoops community by storm, and subsequently waived Van Lith off, allowing the Sun to bring her onto the roster. Now, just a couple of days later, the 20-year-old has shared her two cents on joining the Sun after moving on from the Sky.

Speaking in an interview with basketball insider and ESPN reporter Alexa Phillipou before her debut with the Sun, Van Lith reflected on her emotions after joining the Connecticut Sun, emphasizing that the franchise is a great fit for her.

“The youthfulness of [the group], I was super excited about that. It’s trending like ‘the Young and Turnt.’ It has the ‘Young and Turnt’ vibe going,” she said. “I love that, because I’m a passionate player. I have a lot of energy when I’m playing, so to have people to feed off of that also brings that vibe, I think that will just amplify us.

For the Connecticut Sun, Hailey Van Lith is a value-driven addition. Of course, she is yet to prove her mettle in the W during her first season in the league, averaging just 3.7 points and 1.1 rebounds. But her collegiate run before that, accounting for 2000+ points, suggests she has a high ceiling, and the Sun can even consider her for a long-term run.

On the court, she brings three-level scoring and high basketball IQ. It can help her immensely to be a vital part of the team’s young core, including Charlisse Lager-Walker and Gianna Kneepkens. Subsequently, she will help the team immensely with players like Brittney Griner and Aaliyah Edwards if she has a breakthrough season.

Van Lith herself is quite confident about what she can achieve in the upcoming season with the Connecticut Sun, and she also showcased glimpses of it during her conversation with Phillipou. “There are bumps and bruises to being young and having young people, but there’s also like a limitless ceiling,” Van Lith said.

Notably, the second-year pro has been improving quite efficiently since her limited minutes in her rookie season in 2025. In the first preseason game of 2026 against the Phoenix Mercury, Van Lith scored 20 points and dished 3 assists in just 17 minutes. The Chicago Sky’s front office waiving her off despite this stellar preseason performance is, in itself, quite surprising.

After all, such a dynamic guard could have been worth more than gold for the Sky in this period of roster revamp for the team. Sky head coach Tyler Marsh shared a detailed explanation for waiving Van Lith ahead of the regular season tipoff, noting it was a very tough decision for the franchise as well.

“The worst part of this job and the business that we’re in is you have to have a tough conversation and make tough decisions,” Marsh had said. “For us, unfortunately, sometimes it comes down to a numbers game, and it’s not necessarily anything that Hailey did or didn’t do. She’s another one that works incredibly hard…and is incredibly tough as well.

From a roster profile, the Chicago Sky’s decision makes sense. Marsh’s team is already laced with multiple perimeter players. Skylar Diggins-Smith, Natasha Cloud, and Courtney Vandersloot are all veteran players who will suit for the Sky this season. As a result, it was likely that Van Lith would have been reduced to just an off-the-bench player with immensely limited minutes.

But in the Connecticut Sun, Hailey Van Lith can actually flourish, and we saw one of its first strides on Friday.

Hailey Van Lith shines against the New York Liberty in Connecticut Sun debut

Playing for a franchise directly in a regular-season game without a preseason stretch is quite a tough task for any player. But for Hailey Van Lith, it was the perfect time to make her first impression on the team. The 24-year-old guard logged 14 minutes in the games, but for her, that was enough to draw the league’s notice.

Van Lith checked in the game with a stellar turnaround jump shot in the first quarter and just went from strength to strength after that. She finished the night with 9 points and 4 assists in a 31-point blowout for the Sun. Although the NY Liberty clinched the game, Sun’s youthful roster did show flashes of what they can do in the long run.

Besides Van Lith, Kneepkens also contributed well with 7 points and 5 rebounds off the bench, and Leger-Walker had 4 points to her name. Speaking in the post-game press conference, Van Lith clearly stated that this young squad will have to work a bit harder to make strides toward success.

“With youth a lot of times, consistency is the issue. So, with this squad, we just have to work on putting these flashes together more often, and it’s going to take commitment and work, and focus on it and practice. I think we’ll have a great day of practice tomorrow and come with a better energy and mindset against the Storm.”

With young players like Hailey Van Lith taking charge, the pressure on Brittney Griner will ease immensely this season. The team faces its next challenge in the Seattle Storm on May 10, who will also bring a young core, including Flau’jae Johnson and Dominique Malonga.