Skylar Diggins’ first season with the Chicago Sky has been anything but smooth. Her recent benching, lingering knee concerns, growing scrutiny over the team’s struggles, and the level of performance she has produced all season have been raising serious questions about whether the Sky made the right decision bringing her on board in the first place.
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For WNBA analyst Sabreena Merchant, that question has a fairly clear answer. And it is not a flattering one for the Sky. In her view, Diggins holds one of the most overvalued contracts in the entire league right now.
“There’s a couple of reasons why I think her contract is one of the top three worst,” Merchant said on Friday’s episode of the No Offseason podcast. “Number one, she’s getting paid $920,000 this year, $940,000 next year. She’s just not playing at that level of point guard. She’s shooting well from beyond the arc, but she’s making less than 40% of her twos.
“The Sky are also eight points per 100 possessions worse with Skylar on the floor. That’s very disappointing when you have a veteran point guard coming in to have that kind of negative impact.”
It is difficult to argue meaningfully with the numbers Merchant cited. Skylar Diggins‘ two-point efficiency has genuinely struggled. She has made 61 of her 154 two-point attempts, putting her at 39.6 percent. And her -4.21 plus-minus per game across her appearances confirms the negative on-court impact Merchant described. The numbers tell an uncomfortable story.
Beyond the performance concerns, Merchant also raised the issue of potential dressing room friction, specifically stemming from Diggins’ recent benching. As Merchant pointed out, while the exact dynamics inside the Chicago Sky locker room remain unknown, the strained relationship between Diggins and head coach Tyler Marsh is not exactly a secret at this point.
And there is genuine basis for that concern. Immediately after learning of her benching, Diggins broke her silence on Instagram, posting:
“Now I’m coming off the bench?????? Cool.”
This was followed by a video in which she noted the frustrating part was that she had been “so good and quiet” all season up to that point. It was a very public expression of discontent from a veteran player who clearly felt the decision was unwarranted.
That frustration, however, is understandable to a degree. Diggins had started almost every game of the season and produced decent numbers throughout, averaging 14.2 points, 4.9 assists, and 3.2 rebounds per game. But the way Merchant sees it, decent is not enough to justify the value the Sky placed on her. A $920,000 contract demands more than decent; it demands impact. And the impact, at least according to the metrics, has been negative rather than positive.
With roughly half the season still to play, there is enough time for Diggins to turn the narrative around and eventually justify that contract. Hopefully, that is what eventually happens. But right now, the numbers say something different.