While the memory of the Chicago Sky’s WNBA championship run might be fresh in the minds of fans, the 2022 season formally began Feb. 1 with players officially able to sign contracts.
Rumors have been swirling for weeks. Superstars who were once thought to be franchise lifers met with other teams. Agents have fired off tweets defending their clients.
All of the madness that has ensued finally has come to this point. Heading into free agency, the Sky had only four players signed through the 2022 season, according to Her Hoops Stats. However, head coach and general manager James Wade already has made moves with the goal of elevating the team’s chances of repeating.
Here are our offseason grades for what the Sky have pulled off so far.
Allie Quigley signs a one-year deal – A+
The Sky have brought back all of their starters from last season. Quigley, the Sky’s all-time leading scorer, is coming off of one of the best shooting seasons in WNBA history. She shot 45.6% from three-point range on 4.6 attempts and was second on the team in scoring after being inserted into the starting lineup following the Olympic break.
There were no obvious replacements if Quigley retired, something she hinted at after the season. Theoretical fits to absorb the three-time All-Star’s production evaporated as the Sky negotiated with Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot deep into free agency. By keeping both, Chicago goes into the 2022 season with its franchise pillars leading the charge for one more title run.
One important question the Sky will have to answer heading into training camp is who backs up Quigley. When the sharpshooter was on the floor, the Sky had a positive 6.8 net rating compared to a negative 2.9 net rating when she was on the bench. The luxury of having Diamond DeShields as a bench option on a rookie-scale contract doesn’t exist as it did in 2021. With one more roster spot to fill, the Sky should address this need.
One intriguing option is Kysre Gondrezick, who was waived by the Indiana Fever after being drafted fourth overall in 2021. The second year player out of West Virginia signed a training camp contract with the Sky and has experience playing both guard positions. She is an above-average facilitator in the pick-and-roll and played in an uptempo offense when she was in college — two attributes Wade looks for in a guard.
Whatever happens with the final spot on the Sky roster is besides the point. Wade has said multiple times that the offense runs through Quigley. After retooling an already championship caliber roster, the Sky have the continuity and playoff experience to beat any team in a five-game series. Re-signing Quigley was the last step in bringing the band back together.
Courtney Vandersloot reportedly signs a one-year deal — A+
Even after fortifying their bench early in free agency, the Sky’s biggest priority was bringing back their starting backcourt. The front office did just that by re-signing both Quigley and Vandersloot to one-year deals.
At one point in the offseason, Vandersloot’s return to the Sky didn’t appear to be a certainty. She turned down a contract extension before the 2021 playoffs and went into free agency with an open mind. ESPN’s Holly Rowe reported the Sky offered Vandersloot a “wildly disrespectful” contract before the sides agreed on a deal.
With Vandersloot in the fold, the Sky will enter the 2022 season as the league favorites. Vandersloot, who is fourth on the WNBA’s all-time assists list, has led the league in assists every year since 2017. Her 795 assists since 2019 are 288 more than the second-best mark during that span (Chelsea Gray, 507).
Vandersloot has been the engine of the Sky offense since Elena Delle Donne was traded in 2017. Wade has lauded her as “the best point guard in the world.” The Sky’s chances of returning to the WNBA Finals hinged on Vandersloot’s return even after some savvy moves to start free agency.
3-team trade involving Diamond DeShields and Julie Allemand — B+
The Sky received Julie Allemand and a 2023 first-round pick from the Mercury, who got Diamond DeShields. And the Fever landed Bria Hartley, two second-round picks (2022 and 2023 from the Mercury) and two first-round picks (2022 and 2023 first-round picks from the Sky).
After Rowe’s report on Vandersloot’s contract status, the Sky front office had to start exploring options before the point guard market evaporated. DeShields, a restricted free agent, was also running out of teams with cap space that could offer her meaningful minutes in their rotation.
With both timelines closing in on each other, the Sky made the most of its dwindling leverage with DeShields’ restricted free-agent status. The Sky get an intriguing young guard in Allemand, who was second in the league in assists per game behind Vandersloot in 2020, and a first-round pick in a stronger draft class next season. Allemand is the backup point guard Wade has been searching for since he arrived in Chicago, and she will make only $61,049 in 2022.
The Sky confirmed Allemand will play in the WNBA this season after she said in a Dec. 30 Instagram post that she would take time off. According to Wade, Allemand’s season in France with Lyon ASVEL Féminin won’t end until May. Because the Sky’s season opener is May 6, Allemand likely will miss the start of 2022. However, she would be available for the entire postseason because the 2022 FIBA World Cup won’t start until after the playoffs.
“We know she is going to come over late, and it is something we have to prepare for,” Wade said. “But we felt like we were getting a player of such high caliber and quality that it was worth it.”
Allemand will join her former Belgian Olympic teammates Emma Meesseman and Ann Wauters, who will be an assistant coach under Wade. Allemand was the first rookie in WNBA history to average at least eight points, four rebounds and five assists in 2020. She also was named to the All-Rookie team and showed flashes of being the future point guard of the Fever. Allemand was drafted in 2016 but didn’t come to the WNBA until 2020. She sat out last season to rest after competing in the Olympics.
Signing Emma Meesseman — A
With Stefanie Dolson agreeing to a multiyear deal with the New York Liberty, the Sky front office was tasked with finding another stretch five who can fit Wade’s system and brought in one of the few modern bigs available on the market.
Meesseman, who played for the Washington Mystics from 2013-17 and 2019-20 before sitting out last season, is a career 37.6% 3-point shooter. Her most successful season came in 2019, when she was third in the league in true shooting percentage (minimum of 10 minutes played per game) and was named Finals MVP.
By bringing in Meesseman, the Sky can roll out one of the most lethal five-person lineups in the league. Wade could opt to close games with a lineup similar to what the 2019 Mystics deployed during their championship run.
The switchability on the defensive end of a lineup featuring Vandersloot, Kahleah Copper, Meesseman, Candace Parker and Azurá Stevens is tantalizing. If the Sky face a smaller lineup, Wade could shift to Vandersloot, Quigley, Copper, Parker and Stevens. With Meesseman in the fold, the Sky can counter any type of playing style.
There are a couple of question marks about Meeseman heading into the season. Her numbers dipped slightly in 2020 as she went from scoring 1.13 points per possession on non-post-up attempts around the basket in 2019 to 0.94, according to Synergy Sports.
Meesseman has thrived scoring in the post, where she averaged 58.3 post-up possessions per season from 2014-20. Dolson, who has expressed a desire to return to the block, had only 37 post-up opportunities the last two seasons combined. The Sky might not utilize Meesseman the same way she was in Washington.
The Sky are betting Meesseman will return to her 2019 form and probably would point to her numbers slipping as a result of Washington losing its nucleus to free agency or players opting out of the Wubble season. She fits everything the Sky are trying to do and comes in with championship experience.
Replacing Dolson’s ability as a screener and stretch five was going to be a tall task, but the Sky are getting a player who immediately raises their ceiling.
Re-signing Kahleah Copper — A+
Since being traded to the Sky in 2017, Copper has blossomed into one of the best two-way players in the WNBA. She was named an All-Star for the first time in 2021 and was the motor the Sky relied on during their championship run.
The 2021 Finals MVP returning isn’t a surprise after she said she was ready to “run it back” in a Players’ Tribune article. The question for the Sky was whether she would sign beyond 2022 or take the $228,094 core qualifier she received from the Sky on Jan. 12.
While the terms of the deal have not been disclosed, Copper returning on a two-year deal gives the Sky salary-cap flexibility and ensures they won’t have to completely rebuild after this season. Wade has created a foundation over the course of his coaching career with the Sky and makes it sturdier by keeping someone who could be a perennial All-Star.
The Sky will be right up against the cap after signing Copper to what is expected to be north of $200,000 in 2022. If Copper’s contract isn’t for the full supermax, Wade can offer Vandersloot more money in his next proposal.
No matter what it ends up costing, bringing back Copper gives the Sky three former Finals MVPs on the roster and the best chance to become the third franchise to repeat as champion.
Signing Crystal Bradford — A+
With this being a weaker free-agent class for wings, the Sky were going to have to be creative to find someone to back up Copper with little salary flexibility. By signing Bradford to a training camp contract worth $60,141, the Sky get everything they were looking for.
Bradford’s value does not match the contract she received from the Sky, likely because of her involvement in a fight last May. Bradford and former Atlanta Dream teammate Courtney Williams received suspensions from the WNBA. Bradford’s suspension is for one game.
Bradford is coming off a season during which she ranked 34th in win probability added, according to Inpredictable’s database.
She played only 18.3 minutes per game last season but averaged 8.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals. Bradford, a 6-foot-1 combo forward, will benefit from leaving one of the worst half-court offenses in the WNBA last season. Her potential on the offensive end increases playing next to all-time great facilitators in Parker and Vandersloot.
For only $60,141, the Sky are getting one of the best backup wings available with little risk attached.
James Kay is a freelance reporter for the Tribune.