2024 Chicago Sky season
WNBA team season
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The 2024 Chicago Sky season was the franchise's 19th season in the Women's National Basketball Association, and their first season under head coach Teresa Weatherspoon.
| 2024 Chicago Sky season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Teresa Weatherspoon |
| Arena | Wintrust Arena |
| Results | |
| Record | 13–27 (.325) |
| Place | 6th (Eastern) |
| Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
The offseason was marked by major coaching and roster changes. In October 2023, the team hired Weatherspoon as head coach, replacing interim head coach Emre Vatansever.[1][2] The team also hired Jeff Pagliocca as general manager, separating this role from the head coaching position for the first time.[3] Several starting players from previous seasons including Kahleah Copper, Alanna Smith, Courtney Williams, Astou Ndour-Fall, and Julie Allemand departed in free agency and trades. The Sky signed their own former first-round draft pick Diamond DeShields. Acquiring the 3rd and 7th picks in the 2024 WNBA draft through trades, they drafted high-profile college stars Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese.
The season tipped-off on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, against the Dallas Wings in Dallas.[4] Despite preseason predictions that they would be among the league's worst teams,[5][6] the Sky had a promising start to the season with a 3–3 record in May, including a stunning win, 90–81, over the New York Liberty.[7] In the 9th game of the season, a 79–71 win over the Washington Mystics, starter Elizabeth Williams suffered a season-ending knee injury.[8] Cardoso, who herself had suffered a shoulder injury during the preseason and missed the first six games of the season,[9] was slotted into the starting lineup to play alongside another rookie, Reese. In the first half of June, the Sky consistently struggled with bad starts to games. After the 12th game of the season, an 81–83 loss at Washington, their third loss in a row, Lindsay Allen and Chennedy Carter replaced Dana Evans and Diamond DeShields in the starting lineup. The Sky's performances improved with the new lineup and it stayed intact until the WNBA break for the 2024 Paris Olympics. In the last game before the break, Chicago scored another surprising win, 93–85, against the reigning champions Las Vegas Aces, and entered the Olympic break in eighth place with a 10–14 record.[10] The following day, Chicago traded Marina Mabrey and the team's second round pick in the 2025 WNBA draft to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for Rachel Banham, Moriah Jefferson, the Sun's first-round 2025 draft pick, and the rights to swap 2026 first-round draft picks.[11]
After the break, Michaela Onyenwere entered the starting lineup in Mabrey's place. However, the Sky struggled with poor form and the unavailability of key players, posting a 3–13 record in August and September. Their top scorer, Carter, missed several games due to illness, and later due to a foot injury. Other injuries to Reese (broken wrist), DeShields (sprained ankle), and Cardoso (shoulder pain) forced significant changes in the rotation. The Sky were still in running for the last playoff spot until the final day of the season; however, they finished with a five-game losing streak and ultimately missed the playoffs, finishing in 10th place with a 13–27 record.[12][13] Nonetheless, Chicago set a franchise record for average attendance, drawing 8,757 fans per game.[14]
After the season, Chicago fired Weatherspoon.[15]
Transactions
WNBA draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Kamilla Cardoso |  Brazil |
South Carolina |
| 1 | 7 | Angel Reese |  United States |
LSU |
| 2 | 13 | Brynna Maxwell | United States |
Gonzaga |
Transactions
| Date | Transaction | |
|---|---|---|
| October 31, 2023 | Hired Jeff Pagliocca as General Manager[16] | |
| January 17, 2024 | Extended Qualifying Offers to Robyn Parks, Rebekah Gardner, and Morgan Bertsch[17] | |
| February 1. 2024 | Signed Lindsay Allen[18] | |
| February 2, 2024 | Renounced the rights to Astou Ndour-Fall[17] | |
| February 5, 2024 | Signed Diamond DeShields[19] | |
| February 6, 2024 | Acquired Brianna Turner and Michaela Onyenwere, the third overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, Chicago's own 2025 second round pick, Phoenix's 2026 first round draft pick, and the right to swap 2026 second round picks in exchange for Kahleah Copper and the rights to Morgan Bertsch.[20] | |
| February 8, 2024 | Signed Taya Reimer to a Training Camp Contract[21] | |
| Signed Kysre Gondrezick to a Training Camp Contract[22] | ||
| February 9, 2024 | Signed Chennedy Carter to a Training Camp Contract[23] | |
| February 15, 2024 | Renounced the rights to Kseniya Malashka[17] | |
| February 19, 2024 | Acquired the 8th pick in the 2024 Draft in exchange for Julie Allemand and the rights to Li Yueru[24] | |
| March 14, 2024 | Acquired the New York Liberty's 2025 and 2026 second round picks in exchange for the rights to Rebekah Gardner[25] | |
| April 14, 2024 | Acquired the Minnesota Lynx 7th pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft and the rights to Nikolina Milić in exchange for Sika Koné, the 8th pick, the Sky's 2025 second round pick, and the rights to swap first round picks in the 2026 draft.[26] | |
| April 19, 2024 | Signed Kamilla Cardoso, Angel Reese, and Brynna Maxwell to Rookie Contracts | |
| Renounced the rights to Robyn Parks | ||
| May 10, 2024 | Waived Taya Reimer[27] | |
| May 13, 2024 | Waived Brynna Maxwell[28] | |
| June 28, 2024 | Waived Kysre Gondrezick[29] | |
| July 17, 2024 | Traded Marina Mabrey and the team's second round pick in the 2025 WNBA draft to Connecticut Sun in exchange for Rachel Banham, Moriah Jefferson, the Sun's first-round 2025 draft pick, and the rights to swap 2026 first-round draft picks[11] | |
| September 11, 2024 | Signed Kaela Davis to 7-day contract | |
| September 18, 2024 | Released Kaela Davis and signed to rest-of-season contract | |
| September 19, 2024 | Signed Elizabeth Williams to an extension through 2025 | |
Roster changes
Additions
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Subtractions
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Roster
| 2024 Chicago Sky roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Depth chart
Schedule
Pre-season
| 2024 game log Total: 1–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 1–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–1)
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| 2024 season schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regular season
| 2024 game log Total: 13–27 (Home: 6–14; Road: 7–13) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 3–3 (Home: 1–2; Road: 2–1)
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June
: 3–8 (Home: 2–5; Road: 1–3)
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July
: 4–3 (Home: 1–1; Road: 3–2)
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August
: 1–6 (Home: 0–4; Road: 1–2)
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September
: 2–7 (Home: 2–2; Road: 0–5)
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| 2024 season schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Conf. | Home | Road | Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | yx – New York Liberty | 32 | 8 | .800 | — | 16–4 | 16–4 | 16–4 | 5–0 |
| 2 | cx – Minnesota Lynx | 30 | 10 | .750 | 2 | 14–6 | 16–4 | 14–6 | 4–1 |
| 3 | x – Connecticut Sun | 28 | 12 | .700 | 4 | 14–6 | 14–6 | 14–6 | 4–1 |
| 4 | x – Las Vegas Aces | 27 | 13 | .675 | 5 | 12–8 | 13–7 | 14–6 | 2–3 |
| 5 | x – Seattle Storm | 25 | 15 | .625 | 7 | 13–7 | 14–6 | 11–9 | 4–1 |
| 6 | x – Indiana Fever | 20 | 20 | .500 | 12 | 11–9 | 12–8 | 8–12 | 3–2 |
| 7 | x – Phoenix Mercury | 19 | 21 | .475 | 13 | 10–10 | 10–10 | 9–11 | 3–2 |
| 8 | x – Atlanta Dream | 15 | 25 | .375 | 17 | 7–13 | 8–12 | 7–13 | 1–4 |
| 9 | e – Washington Mystics | 14 | 26 | .350 | 18 | 7–13 | 5–15 | 9–11 | 1–4 |
| 10 | e – Chicago Sky | 13 | 27 | .325 | 19 | 5–15 | 6–14 | 7–13 | 1–4 |
| 11 | e – Dallas Wings | 9 | 31 | .225 | 23 | 6–14 | 7–13 | 2–18 | 0–5 |
| 12 | e – Los Angeles Sparks | 8 | 32 | .200 | 24 | 5–15 | 5–15 | 3–17 | 2–3 |
Notes
- (#) – League Standing
- c – Commissioner's Cup winners
- y – Regular Season Champion
- x – Clinched playoff berth
- e – Eliminated from playoff contention
- Source: Overall standings and Commissioner's Cup Standings
Statistics
| Legend | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | TO | Turnovers per game |
| PF | Fouls per game | Team leader | League leader | ||||
Regular season
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PF | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chennedy Carter | 33 | 20 | 26.0 | .487 | .290 | .730 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 3.2 | 17.5 |
| Marina Mabrey † | 24 | 24 | 33.2 | .381 | .350 | .723 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 14.0 |
| Angel Reese | 34 | 34 | 32.5 | .391 | .188 | .736 | 13.1 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 3.5 | 13.6 |
| Elizabeth Williams | 9 | 9 | 27.7 | .487 | — | .667 | 7.0 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 10.0 |
| Kamilla Cardoso | 32 | 29 | 27.4 | .521 | — | .726 | 7.9 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 3.2 | 9.8 |
| Dana Evans | 39 | 12 | 19.1 | .377 | .376 | .960 | 1.1 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 7.2 |
| Rachel Banham ≠ | 16 | 9 | 19.8 | .346 | .382 | .700 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 6.9 |
| Lindsay Allen | 40 | 28 | 23.8 | .466 | .292 | .808 | 2.0 | 3.9 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 6.6 |
| Michaela Onyenwere | 34 | 18 | 18.7 | .415 | .368 | .610 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 6.6 |
| Isabelle Harrison | 36 | 5 | 16.3 | .399 | .167 | .820 | 3.9 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 6.5 |
| Diamond DeShields | 32 | 10 | 13.8 | .348 | .173 | .611 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 4.5 |
| Kaela Davis ≠ | 4 | 0 | 13.0 | .333 | 1.000 | .500 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 3.0 |
| Brianna Turner | 27 | 2 | 9.4 | .615 | — | .500 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 1.2 |
| Kysre Gondrezick ‡ | 5 | 0 | 3.2 | .286 | .167 | — | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.0 |
| Moriah Jefferson ≠ | 14 | 0 | 8.9 | .115 | .100 | .833 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.9 |
‡Waived/Released during the season
†Traded during the season
≠Acquired during the season
Awards and honors
| Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angel Reese | WNBA Rookie of the Month – June | July 2, 2024 | [30] |
| WNBA All-Star | [31] | ||
| Eastern Conference Player of the Week | July 9, 2024 | [32] | |
| Peak Performer: Rebounds | September 20, 2024 | [33] | |
| AP All-Rookie Team | September 22, 2024 | [34] | |
| WNBA All-Rookie Team | October 3, 2024 | [35] | |
| Kamilla Cardoso | AP All-Rookie Team | September 22, 2024 | [34] |
| WNBA All-Rookie Team | October 3, 2024 | [35] |