After major offseason roster changes adding veterans like Skylar Diggins, Azurá Stevens, and Natasha Cloud, the Chicago Sky were hoping for a better start. However, after a 6-14 record, they now decided to bench Diggins, who has started all 19 of thier games so far. “Now I’m coming off the bench?????? Cool,” Diggins wrote on social media on July 6, and now analyst Erica L. Ayala has questioned the decision.

“Behind (Kamilla Cardoso), who’s averaging 14.6 PPG, is Skylar Diggins at 14.2 PPG,” she said in the latest episode of We Need To Talk. “Both of them have played at least 19 games, Kamilla and Skylar that is, and both are above 25 minutes per game. The next leading scorer behind those two is Sydney Taylor, who has 18 games played, 18 minutes per game, and is averaging 12.2 PPG.”

“Now, granted, Courtney Vandersloot is just coming back, so it’s three-games small sample size, but for me, if indeed Skylar is coming off of the bench, even if we took (Vandersloot) out of the equation just for a time, unless Rickea Jackson is coming back, the math ain’t mathin’ for me,” she added.

Meanwhile, Skylar Diggins made it clear that she didn’t see this coming. After making her first post about the decision, she later spoke to the media after a shootaround in Phoenix, where she aired her frustration about the move.

“Every decision that’s made basketball-wise is made by [Marsh]. That’s my boss. Even if I don’t like decisions, I have to be a pro and go with whatever he thinks,” she explained.

Later, Diggins took to social media once again, posting a video where she said, “the crazy part about it all is I’ve been so quiet. I’ve been so good and quiet.”

On June 7, Skylar Diggins raised concerns when they had a 4-7 record. “We gotta have more maturity and more leadership on and off the floor,” she said after their loss against Toronto. Now, all of this may sound familiar because Chicago has been here before.

Just last season, Angel Reese publicly voiced her frustrations with the franchise before they eventually traded her to the Atlanta Dream in the 2026 offseason. However, Chicago may not want to go down the same path with Skylar Diggins, as she has carried the offensive load after Rickea Jackson tore her ACL.

Analysts like Ayala have speculated that the move is tied to Courtney Vandersloot’s return from injury, but head coach Tyler Marsh has said: “It’s a coach’s decision. It’s my decision, and the conversations that me and Skylar had will stay between us.”

So with the Phoenix Mercury waiting on the other side, the Sky will have to prove that this shake-up is about winning and helping them salvage what’s left of the season.