2024 Chicago Sky Training Camp Preview
The Teresa Weatherspoon era begins with a team stocked full of hungry players ready to battle for their spot.
With a highly-regarded draft class and a legendary player now at the helm as head coach, the Sky enter the 2024 season with some considerable buzz around the team—despite the obvious setbacks endured and risks taken to build the current roster. The time for talking about this team will soon be over as Teresa Weatherspoon and her players will convene in Chicago starting Sunday and start building the foundation that the Sky’s upcoming season (and the key ones that follow) will rest on. With the season opener in Dallas coming just two-and-a-half weeks after camp opens, there’s little time for a brand-new team, which returns just four players from last year’s camp, to gel, but the experience figures to be a valuable first step for the squad—with preseason games in Minnesota on May 4th and at Wintrust Arena against the Liberty on May 7th providing on-court opportunities for the team to build cohesion. Let’s take a look at where each position group stands ahead of camp and what each player on the Sky’s roster will be looking to gain from the next two weeks.
Point Guards
Dana Evans should get her long awaited chance to start in the W with veteran Lindsay Allen slotted in as the team’s back-up. Because the Sky look unlikely to make the postseason in 2024 (and because she is such a valuable defender), I expect Evans to be given a considerable leash by Teresa Weatherspoon—with her starting spot unlikely to be relinquished even if her efficiency (29.4% 3PT in 2023) remains a work in progress. Thus, the main objective for the point guards in camp will be to develop rapport with Weatherspoon and gain familiarity with her schemes as quickly as possible. It’s not only year one of their partnership; it’s also the first time Dana will be starting since her senior year at Louisville and the first time Weatherspoon will be the head coach of a team since 2014. In other words, no amount of camp will likely allow this duo to iron out all the wrinkles, but a strong camp would set the table nicely for them to figure things out as the season goes on.
To that point, expect Allen to be a valuable resource for both. Entering a seventh pro campaign with a fifth different WNBA franchise, Allen has seen everything the league has to offer. The point guard is often considered an extension of the head coach on the court, and Allen developing a strong bond with both Evans and Weatherspoon would allow the Sky to have great continuity when Dana sits. Allen is also one of only two veterans (Marina Mabrey) that has a contract for the 2025 season—meaning there’s extra incentive to build and nurture a good relationship for both coach and player. Kysre Gondrezick seemingly faces an uphill battle to make the opening day roster but could alternate between the one and the two throughout camp (and if she eventually makes the team). She has a personal connection to Weatherspoon, played with Allen in Indiana in 2021 and was part of the Sky’s training camp in 2022—meaning she should have every chance to settle quickly. She was labelled as a scorer out of West Virginia (and could still add plenty of value there) but is far more likely to make the team if she shows Spoon her defensive qualities in camp.
Shooting Guards
If the Sky are going to be a postseason team, Mabrey will have to continue (or even exceed) the trajectory of development we saw in 2023. Her offseason work (Mabrey was first-team all-EuroLeague) suggests she’s on the right course, but there’s also a number of specific skill development areas she mentioned wanting to improve in her exit interviews last season. While I’m sure WNBA players who play overseas every offseason have found a way, it’s difficult to imagine honing in on those skills while also playing a high-level game every 3-4 days. Thus, this training camp could offer a nice (albeit very brief) period for Mabrey to take a deeper look at some of those areas. That said, managing fatigue should also be a consideration. Her progression over the last 18 months has been substantial, and it would be silly to risk an unnecessary injury by pushing too hard for marginal gains right before a season where she’ll have more responsibility (and probably play more minutes) than ever before.
Behind her on the depth chart, the Sky seemingly have a lot of flexibility in the form of veteran Diamond DeShields and rookie Brynna Maxwell. DeShields, like Mabrey, can handle the ball and should spend some time initiating the offense while Maxwell will be, behind Mabrey, the team’s most important off-ball threat because of her catch-and-shoot skills. Either way, expect both to split minutes between the two and three given their size and defensive qualities. Maxwell is not a lock to make the team—second-round picks never are, but she’s very close to one. At present, the Sky simply don’t have another player with her offensive skillset. If she’s even a net neutral on the defensive end, she should coast onto the opening-night roster. As far as camp players, the aforementioned Gondrezick and Chennedy Carter could both get opportunities at this spot as well. Carter will certainly be one of the 12 most-talented players in this camp, but I don’t think the on-court aspects are what Spoon will be watching. Her ability to accept her role will be even more important in Chicago than it was in Atlanta and LA as she likely won’t get the 20+ minutes a game she often got with those teams. If there’s even the slightest of concerns about cohesion, expect Spoon to go in a different direction with what will likely be the twelfth-and-final roster spot.
Small Forwards
It’s still possible that DeShields winds up as the starter at the three, but it feels like the path is clear for Michaela Onyenwere to make this spot her own heading into her first camp with the Sky. Onyewnere, who is extension eligible through May 15th, will be a restricted free agent after the season, and the Sky have every incentive to find out what they have in one of the Kahleah Copper trade’s most prized assets. Onyenwere has started plenty of games before (57 in 3 seasons), but the growth of her game overseas suggests she’s ready to take on a bigger role than was offered to her in New York or Phoenix. In the context of training camp, she could be another player who’s looking heavily at skill development. During her introductory media appearance, Onyenwere mentioned an emphasis on her three-point shot (32% in ‘23, 24% overseas), and that could be an area she works on heavily with the Sky’s talented suite of skill-development personnel during camp. Her efficiency inside the arc (59%) overseas was fantastic given her varied shot profile, and the three-ball feels like the one missing piece of her game.
For DeShields, a role off the bench probably makes more sense because most of her offensive value comes when she has the ball in hand—either via drives or distribution to others. Thus, if she’s on the court with Mabrey and Evans, you either sacrifice her best attributes or force the ball into her hands at the expense of your starting backcourt. At the same time, you also open yourself up to some dysfunctional spacing as DeShields is just a 29% career three-point shooter. In the second unit, DeShields could help take some of the ball-handling load off of Allen (who has experience playing with other ball handlers like Kelsey Mitchell) with Maxwell adding some valuable spacing alongside the pair. Regardless of whether it’s DeShields or Onyenwere that starts, each will hope to use camp to develop as much chemistry as possible with returnees Mabrey, Williams and Evans as both figure to play heavy minutes alongside that trio this season.
Power Forwards
The power forward spot figures to be the most competitive position battle in a camp where Weatherspoon said everyone must earn their spot. First-round draft pick Angel Reese, prized ‘23 offseason addition Isabelle Harrison and the final arrival in the aforementioned Copper trade, Brianna Turner, all have reason to believe they should be the opening night starter in Dallas. With both Harrison & Turner out of contract after the season, installing Reese in the starting 5 would allow the Sky to look towards the future immediately—with Harrison and Turner in competition for the bench minutes available. However, one of the veterans starting could allow Reese some valuable insulation from the pressures that come with being a first-year professional. Given both approaches have merit, I anticipate this truly will be an open battle in camp—with whoever performs best winning the day-one job. Of course, the starter’s ability to complement the four that join them in the opening five is also important.
In that respect, Harrison—who returns after missing 2023 due to injury—figures to make the most sense for the team as a whole. She adds a more consistent mid-range game (and the associated spacing) than either of Turner or Reese, more defensively minded players, do. Of course, the Sky are likely intent on working with Reese to refine her mid-range game; so, it’s also possible that Chicago starts the LSU product with hopes that she’ll continue developing her shot and adding spacing in the process. All three are solid performers defensively; so, each has the potential to fit with the defense-first identity that Weatherspoon is expected to implement. Turner, however, is probably best suited to complement a shot-blocking center (like both Williams and Cardoso) given her vast experience over the last 5 seasons alongside Brittney Griner in Phoenix. If there’s an argument for Reese to start (besides the obvious desire to get her on court to develop), it’s her rebounding. The pro game is considerably different from college (as was the personnel alongside the players when these stats were accumulated), but her rebounding percentage (21%) blitzes that of Turner (15%) and Harrison (14%). The discrepancy won’t be so staggering with far more size alongside Reese in the W, but she’ll probably still finish as the team’s leading rebounder in year one.
Centers
While some will hope for rookie Kamilla Cardoso to start, I anticipate Elizabeth Williams being the team’s opening-day center regardless of what happens in camp. Cardoso has a lot of exciting attributes and figures to be a long-term success in the W, but Williams was an All-Defensive selection last season. If the Sky are serious about being a competitive team this season (and the lack of future picks means they have no reason not to be), then the franchise has every incentive to start a player who is still in her prime (she’ll only turn 31 in June) and played some of her best basketball (career-highs in steals and assists plus near career-highs in FG%, points and minutes) last season. Given Williams is out of contract after the season, the Sky also have a natural transition point already in place. If Cardoso excels in her rookie season, the team can continue to give Williams the role her play has earned—with every opportunity to elevate the Brazilian into the starting five next season when Williams may not return.
That said, it’s important for the Sky to find opportunities to get Reese and Cardoso on the floor together in what figures to be a challenging year from a wins-and-losses perspective. If one starts and the other comes off the bench, it’s important that rotations are staggered enough to give them frequent chances to play together. A GM who tries to influence the coach’s rotations is usually a huge problem, but it’s important to have someone removed from the heat of the game keeping Weatherspoon (who will be locked in on winning games now) aware of the need to nurture the duo they’ve invested so heavily in. The less time the Sky give their two prized picks to play together in 2024; the more uncertainty they’ll have as they try to plan for 2025. In that respect, camp is also an important time for the pair. Their games seem to complement one another well and they have spoken highly of each other in the post-draft process, but it’s important that they start building chemistry as soon as possible. They don’t have to be best friends off the court, but Chicago will need them to pair well on-court if the draft day gambles they’ve made are to pay off long-term.
Invitee Taya Reimer, the fourteenth and final player on the team’s camp roster, looks unlikely to make the team but could be a valuable resource to test both of Cardoso and Reese against in camp as she provides size (6’5”) that none of the other Sky front court vets offer. While camp activities won’t be exclusively focused on one opponent, Reimer can also help the Sky prep for their opening two games against Dallas’ towering front-court.
You lost me with the guard competition not even existing but stating Tspoon saying EVERYONE will need to earn a spot. I don't see Dana as a starter. She's better off coming off the bench with good defense but her shot is too inconsistent. I think Izzy starts but with Kamilla and Deshields at the 3. Either Marina or Lindsay at the 1 or the 2. I see Chennedy making the roster it's her last shot.