Evaluating Jeff Pagliocca's Tenure as Sky General Manager One Year In
The good, the bad and the ugly of a debut season that saw Chicago's front office overturn the entire roster and fire head coach Teresa Weatherspoon.
Sky general manager Jeff Pagliocca met the media for the first time one year ago today, and he’s been busy ever since. Chicago spent last winter gearing up for a vital free agency period that saw them aim to build around the recently resigned Kahleah Copper (a close confidant of Pagliocca) and were eventually forced into rebuild mode when she was dealt to Phoenix after presumed targets Skylar Diggins-Smith and Nneka Ogwumike signed with Seattle. To celebrate the one-year milestone on the job (something worth celebrating given the other key executive addition last year never made it that far), let’s grade each of the 17 (by my count) notable transactions Pagliocca made in his first year on the job.
Offseason
February 1st: Signed Lindsay Allen to a two-year deal.
Given the low price point of this contract ($90,000) compared to the veteran minimum ($76,535), this was a perfect deal for the Sky. At the time Allen put pen to paper, the thought was still that she could be a valuable bench piece, and she turned out to be much, much more when Chicago missed on their high-profile targets and turned the roster over with the Copper trade. Given Dana Evans’ ups and downs throughout the season, the Sky offense may have been in a very bad way without Allen’s veteran presence at the helm. Allen figures to be just as key next season when she’ll no doubt have a role in helping whatever guard the Sky pick in the lottery settle into the WNBA game. Pagliocca’s Grade: A+
February 2nd: Renounced the rights to Astou Ndour-Fall.
Not a hugely significant move, but one that frustrated many at the time given that Ndour-Fall signed with a contender shortly after. I explained why I felt the move was justified at the time (mainly, there was little true trade value), and those thoughts still seem rationale given Ndour-Fall played just 92 minutes in Connecticut this year. Pagliocca’s Grade: N/A
February 5th: Signed Diamond DeShields to a one-year deal.
DeShields’ return to the court was a feel good story, and it’s still apparent that she can be a WNBA contributor—even if she never found consistency this season. Given it was a one-year deal, there was low risk with this deal, but it ended up producing marginal reward as well. Pagliocca’s Grade: C+
February 6th: Traded Kahleah Copper to Phoenix.
As a reminder, here was the complete scope of this deal:
Phoenix Received: Copper & Morgan Bertsch
Chicago Received: Michaela Onyenwere, Brianna Turner & 4 picks (‘24 #3 overall, ‘26 unprotected first, ‘25 second, ‘26 second [swap])
For the Sky front office and its fan base, the psychological impact of this trade (especially after the break-up of the 2021 title team just one offseason earlier) probably made it feel a lot worse than it will ultimately shape up to be. The 2024 class was loaded with talent—meaning the #3 pick was always going to bring a player who could become a foundational piece. Meanwhile, Onyenwere has the potential to be a high-end rotational player (if not a starter), and the 2026 first-round choice could still materialize into something down the line. That being said, the value of this trade on paper (and not what Kamilla Cardoso has already and figures to continue becoming—we’ll get to her later) still feels heavily tied to how the Mercury wind up performing next season. If Copper and company can improve on their performance in 2024 and push that 2026 pick further down the draft order, we edge closer and closer towards this being a virtual Cardoso for Copper swap if Onyenwere doesn’t return to Chicago. Even with Copper playing the best basketball of her career in Phoenix, the play of Cardoso and Onyenwere’s status as a restricted free agent mean this trade has turned out to be a better one with time than it looked in the moment. That being said, Copper is still an all-WNBA player (with legit MVP aspirations); so, the pieces the Sky got back have a lot of growing to do before this trade can be seen as a win. Pagliocca’s Grade: B+
February 7th: Signed Kysre Gondrezick to a training camp deal.
Since this was a training camp deal, there was no risk attached to bringing Gondrezick in, and she ultimately made the opening day roster with the occasional flash of something in the regular season. Pagliocca’s Grade: B
February 9th: Signed Chennedy Carter to a training camp deal.
No risk, all the reward. The Sky bet on being able to manage Carter’s (at times) brash personality and profited mightily from her strong relationship with head coach Teresa Weatherspoon. Had the Sky’s record been better, Carter would’ve gotten serious (and justified) all-WNBA consideration this season. Like Allen, a deal that really produced no negatives for Chicago. Pagliocca’s Grade: A+
February 21st: Traded for the 8th Pick in the ‘24 Draft.
As a reminder, here was the complete scope of this deal:
Los Angeles Received: Julie Allemand, Li Yueru & a 2025 Third Round Pick
Chicago Received: 2024 First Round Pick (#8)
My feeling at the time was that a better player than Yueru wouldn’t be on the board at 8—raising serious questions about the logic behind this deal. In the end, the Sky apparently seemed to feel the same as this move only necessitated a further trade to get up into the top seven of a draft that clearly had a group of six players (plus Jacy Sheldon who was always tied to Dallas) in a tier above the rest of the class. This deal was a means to an end as far as eventually getting into the top seven, but the value in giving away a promising 25-year-old like Yueru and a proven veteran was never going to be there. Pagliocca’s Grade: D+
March 14th: Traded Rebekah Gardner to New York.
As you may or may not remember, Gardner was a restricted player and, thus, technically didn’t have to play at all in the WNBA in 2024. Once she got hurt overseas she definitely wasn’t going to suit up this year, but the decision to trade her for two second-round picks (and late ones at that) really made no sense. If the Sky had just let Gardner rehab and brought her back next season, she may have been a key rotational player or, at the very least, would’ve been worth more on the trade market. When she’s excelling in New York next season and the 2nd round pick Chicago got back is cut after training camp, expect to see the terms of this trade revisited by many an armchair GM. Pagliocca’s Grade: F
April 14th: Traded for the 7th Pick in the ‘24 Draft.
As a reminder, here was the complete scope of this deal:
Minnesota Received: Sika Koné, 2024 First Round Pick (#8), 2026 First Round Pick Swap, 2025 Second Round Pick
Chicago Received: 2024 First Round Pick (#7) & Nikolina Milić’s rights
As with the Copper trade, I want to be incredibly clear that I am strictly grading the terms of this trade—not the player eventually taken with the pick. And even with Reese playing exceptionally in her first WNBA season, this trade still looks awful on paper. To move up just a single spot in the draft, the Sky gave away an asset (Koné) who was more talented than anyone left on the board for the Lynx to pick at #8 and gave away a 2026 first-round pick swap. As a reminder, the ‘26 draft order will be decided based on results in 2025—next season. In other words, the Sky will still be rebuilding and the Lynx will still be contending. It’s possible the teams end up closer together in the standings than you’d expect (look at how Dallas’ pick-swap with the Sky ended up this year), but it’s not likely. Instead, a very real scenario is that the Lynx have a bottom-five pick in the first round, and the Sky have to hand over their lottery pick. Even if Angel Reese is exceptional, that doesn’t make sense—especially for Reese who will lose the chance to see her team add another top 3-4 pick to their young core as a result of this deal’s terms. The counterargument, of course, could be that Minnesota would’ve taken Reese or sold this pick to the highest bidder, and I understand that’s a reality that the Sky front office was dealing with. Regardless, the price here is way, way too high, and the Sky are fortunate that, at the very least, the seventh pick has overdelivered so far in her young career. Pagliocca’s Grade: D-
April 15th: Drafted Kamilla Cardoso.
It’s still early in her career, but Cardoso looks to have been the right pick here. Rickea Jackson has been exceptional as the pick just after, but Cardoso’s second half showed she was already the Sky’s most integral player at both ends—with acres of space still to grow into. Pagliocca’s Grade: A+
April 15th: Drafted Angel Reese.
The deals to get to this pick were mediocre at best, but the pick that was made at seven was absolutely the right one. I mentioned pre-draft that I though Reese at three was a reasonable option for the Sky, and her young career suggests she could’ve lived up to that billing as well. As she improves as a player, this is likely to go down as a massive value pick relative to some of the other players chosen just before or after her. Pagliocca’s Grade: A+
April 15th: Drafted Brynna Maxwell.
Maxwell, at least for me, was somewhat of an unexpected name on draft night, but a quick review of her college tape made it incredibly apparent why she was a good choice for the Sky’s roster and needs. Pagliocca’s Grade: A-
May 13th: Waived Brynna Maxwell.
And yet, she didn’t make the opening day roster. Injury, of course, impacted her camp, but the Sky likely would’ve been better off cutting Gondrezick as Maxwell profiles as a better shooter with some much-needed size. Pagliocca’s Grade: C-
In Season
June 28th: Waived Kysre Gondrezick.
Gondrezick, again, probably doesn’t make the team if Maxwell is healthy in camp, but the timing of this move was still a bit bizarre. Elizabeth Williams had just gotten hurt and, instead of using the roster spot to get more bodies in the locker room, it sat empty until the 2-for-1 trade that the Sky made nearly three weeks later. Pagliocca’s Grade: N/A (though an F for timing)
July 17th: Traded Marina Mabrey to Connecticut.
As a reminder, here was the complete scope of this deal:
Connecticut Received: Marina Mabrey & a 2025 Second Round Pick
Chicago Received: Rachel Banham, Moriah Jefferson, 2025 First Round Pick & a 2026 First Round Pick Swap
This deal effectively torpedoed the Sky’s chances to achieve much of anything in 2024 and, at least for now, doesn’t seem to bring back enough value to make up for it in the years ahead. The 2025 first-rounder was never going to be a high one (it’ll be #10 next April) given the Sun’s roster and neither of the players in the deal are anything more than rotational options. The 2026 first-round swap could, however, save the deal entirely. If the majority of the Sun’s key players depart in free agency (as seems to be a distinct possibility), that swap—depending on the order of operations the league office uses—could net the Sky a lottery pick. Say, for instance, the Sky and Sun are both in the lottery picking 2nd and 3rd. The Sky would owe that 2nd pick to Minnesota but could then swap Minnesota’s late first-round pick to the Sun to get back up to 3. If the league does things in the opposite order and the Sky have to swap with the Sun before the Lynx swap or the Sun’s key players return, that best case scenario could evaporate quite quickly. If the Sky know something we don’t about the future of the Sun’s core and made this trade with that in mind, this deal could end up looking a clever one. However, Mabrey (even if she asked out) is a proven, borderline All-Star player who was shipped out of a town for a bunch of maybes around a future pick swap. And had Chicago not given the Lynx that unnecessary swap back in April, they never would’ve needed to gamble like this. Pagliocca’s Grade: D
September 19th: Signed Elizabeth Williams to a one-year extension.
A smart deal at a great price point ($100,000) for the caliber of player in question. Because Williams was hurt shortly after Cardoso recovered from her own injury at the start of the season, it remains to be seen how all three of the contracted front court players will fit together, but Williams is unselfish enough to make it work. Pagliocca’s Grade: A
Offseason
September 26th: Fired Head Coach Teresa Weatherspoon.
Since this one is fresh in the mind, I don’t need to go much further into it, and I get the sense that Pagliocca—given his lack of experience—probably didn’t have too much say in the decision anyways. The decision to fire Weatherspoon has a few obvious pros and some glaring cons, but there’s no sense grading a deal that ownership likely had more to do with. Pagliocca’s Grade: N/A
November 2nd: Hired Head Coach Tyler Marsh.
Time will tell on a grade, but you can read more about this hire here.
Overall Grade: C
Pagliocca deserves a load of credit for signing Chennedy Carter and hitting a pair of home runs in April’s draft, but everything else that the Sky did this year suggests a distinct lack of strategic thinking. If the Sky are rebuilding, then future pick swaps never should’ve been on the table. If they’re trying to win now (as was always the messaging from the GM and the head coach), then dealing away picks makes more sense, but only if you’re acquiring veteran players who are ready to contend. The decisions above show a team who is trying to do both at the same time, and the vast majority of W and NBA teams that have tried to do that have failed miserably.
Meanwhile, trading away a player of Mabrey’s caliber for little more than a “could be” chance to make up for the pick-swap given away earlier in the year wreaks of desperation. As it stands, every GM in the league should be on high-alert that trading with the Sky could offer the opportunity of a lifetime—with only one of the five trades Pagliocca made this season drawing a grade better than a D. Carter, Reese and Cardoso look to be wonderful building blocks, but the compromised position the Sky are now in when it comes to building around that trio in the next two drafts suggests the front office may not be prepared to build a contending roster—with the success of this offseason likely to determine Pagliocca’s future in Chicago.
Great evaluation.
Great evaluation.