Angel Reese’s trade to the Atlanta Dream reeks of the dysfunction that’s riddled the Chicago Sky throughout its two-decade existence.
Sylvia Fowles. Elena Delle Donne. Candace Parker. Kahleah Copper.
On April 6, Reese became the newest addition to the Sky’s tradition of failing to retain stars. Chicago’s bad rap around the WNBA of poor training facilities and mistreatment and mismanagement of players–and being perpetually five years behind the rest of the league–isn’t helped by the routine front page fall-outs.
Chicago’s chronic capitulation in maintaining success almost seems intentional. Franchise cornerstones in the past have left behind the sky blue and bright yellow colors in their primes or after tangible team success. But not before, in such a premature and unnecessary manner.
This time around, it’s different.
Only two years into her pro career, Reese’s rebounding has broken records, and both numbers and film support her gameplan-altering defensive impact. Offensively, Reese’s field goal percentage has been under utmost scrutiny, but the two-time all-star made sophomore strides in that department. Reese played 30 games in 2025, and that sample of her ability rubs salt in the wound.
Reese put on film a significant improvement in playmaking ability as well as increased willingness to pass and shoot from distance. The Sky played their most inspired basketball last season on possessions Reese had the ball.
The star sells tickets and merchandise and is a marketing powerhouse. Her name and likeness alone bring plenty of eyes, which was evident when thousands unfollowed the Sky on Instagram in the wake of the trade. Removed from the lens of glamour, Reese championed underserved communities in the city.
More than 2,000 Westside Chicago students received school supplies in a back-to-school celebration last fall. Renovated Southside community basketball courts opened in June 2025. Both efforts were led by the former face of the Sky.
While Chicago crawled to the finish line of another disappointing season last September, Reese was suspended half a game by the team. The decision further stoked the flame sparked by an interview with the Chicago Tribune in which Reese made her concerns and ambitions with the franchise public.
Reese’s frustrations aligned with many die-hard Sky fans who are likewise fed up with the carelessness and complacency. Yet she never requested or demanded a trade, even when teammates were reportedly disgruntled with her blunt comments. General manager Jeff Pagliocca sought out the trade he said was “designed to achieve roster balance.”
It’s hard to decide what’s more insulting: the reasoning itself or the audacity to give such reasoning publicly. Pagliocca is an executive that’s sold off virtually all future draft capital of a team with a 23-61 record over the past two years.
The Minnesota Lynx drafted TCU guard Olivia Miles in April, an elite, proven prospect boasting some of the craftiest passing and finishing skills in the country. Minnesota, off back-to-back 30-win seasons, can thank Pagliocca for giving them the eventual no. 2 overall pick in this year’s WNBA Draft.
Ironically, Chicago traded that pick to Minnesota for the right to draft Reese two years ago, and have needed a point guard since 2022 when Courtney Vandersloot departed (and subsequently returned in 2025).
The jokes write themselves.
Not many executives in all of pro basketball have a more damning résumé than the one Pagliocca has created for himself in Chicago.
Pagliocca’s press conferences repel any cause for hope or optimism, and whatever vision fans are supposed to buy into is contradicted by the GM’s every transaction. A temperature check on Pagliocca’s seat isn’t needed, as anything other than incompetence is foreign to the Sky organization.
Reese’s mishandling is perhaps Chicago’s magnum opus. Pagliocca made a plethora of moves in the following week. Long-time star Skylar Diggins, 2024 no. 4 overall pick Rickea Jackson and lockdown perimeter defender DiJonai Carrington were just a few additions in Chicago’s overhaul.
March’s historic collective bargaining agreement gave Pagliocca free reign to spend and mold the roster to his liking, mounting more confusion.
If Pagliocca needed to rid Chicago of its best and most dynamic player to build a competitive roster in the matter of days, his capabilities as GM must be seriously questioned. The idea that Reese didn’t need to be traded, and that she may have been just beginning a transformation as a player in Chicago could be the WNBA’s next biggest “what if?”
When Reese spearheaded a late Sky rally past the Caitlin Clark-led Indiana Fever in June 2024, it felt like a landmark win.
If she wasn’t doing her best wide receiver impression, finishing acrobatically on end-to-end fastbreaks, Reese was playing bully ball in the paint against Indiana forward NaLyssa Smith.
The energy that Sunday inside Wintrust Arena was palpable once the clock read zeroes. It hadn’t been seen since October 2021’s WNBA championship blip. Chicago lost the season rivalry to Indiana 3-1, but moments like those served as building blocks.
An organization that gave fans every reason to be apathetic had a player, and a budding team, that provided a reason to feel the opposite.
Without Reese as Pagliocca wished, a new-look Sky will certainly intrigue its fanbase to begin the season. But a playoff race would be the bare minimum needed to justify the GM’s reconstruction project.
Buying into Chicago’s most talented squad since 2021 is far more enticing for fans than ruminating on the possibility of early summer déjà vu. Still, the likeliest outcome sees Reese helping a championship-caliber Atlanta team make a playoff run well into October, a story Chicago Sky fans have watched unfold time and time again.
All while Pagliocca is weeks-deep into deciding which future top-five pick he can trade next. Or seeing how much longer he can get paid to play NBA 2K in real life before his job is under serious pressure.
Velocity 
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