WNBA free agency opens Saturday, and James Wade has stayed busy since leading the Chicago Sky to their first championship in October.
After visiting members of various NBA front offices, scouting players from his 2021 roster overseas and watching tape on draft prospects, the Sky’s coach and general manager now faces his hardest task yet: keeping his championship core together.
The Sky have only four players signed for 2022, according to Her Hoop Stats. They return two starters in the frontcourt in Candace Parker and Azurá Stevens, while guard Dana Evans and forward Ruthy Hebard will play significant roles.
Outside of that, Wade has work to do in building out the rest of his roster with $908,215 in salary-cap space. Here are five predictions of what that might look like as the Sky try to become the third WNBA team to win back-to-back championships.
1. Kahleah Copper signs the core qualifying offer and the Sky re-sign Courtney Vandersloot to a 1-year deal.
If the goal is to win back-to-back titles, then retaining Copper and Vandersloot has to be Wade’s No. 1 priority.
Copper’s situation is much more straightforward. In a piece for The Players’ Tribune, the WNBA Finals MVP asked Sky fans if they were ready to make a run at another championship. Copper also has grown close with Parker in their brief time together.
The Sky have applied the core designation to Copper, as first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, which equates to a one-year, super-maximum deal worth $228,094 — unless the Sky sign Copper to a long-term contract or agree to a sign-and-trade deal.
More likely, Copper will sign the core qualifying offer, which would give the Sky one more chance to win a championship with Copper, Parker and Stevens in the fold, while Copper would get an opportunity to test the market as an unrestricted free agent next year.
Vandersloot, on the other hand, is set to test the free-agent market for the first time in her career. The 2011 first-round pick turned down an extension before the Sky’s championship run and at 32 realizes this is one of the last opportunities she will have to explore her options.
“This is more about timing,” Vandersloot said. “Winning a championship makes things a little different, and I felt like I deserve to see what else is out there. By no means am I saying this is the end (in Chicago).”
While Vandersloot is keeping an open mind heading into free agency, it would make the most sense for her to return to the Sky. The other top teams have to worry about re-signing their own superstars who were previously on team-friendly deals — Breanna Stewart (Seattle), A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas), Jonquel Jones (Connecticut) and Jewell Loyd (Seattle), to name a few.
If Vandersloot and Copper return, the Sky would be favorites to get back to the Finals next season, especially if Wade is able to add talent around his starting five.
2. Allie Quigley retires and the Sky sign Rebecca Allen to a 2-year, $300,000 deal.
Since helping the Sky win their first championship, Quigley has said she is considering retirement. The 35-year-old is coming off one of the best shooting seasons in WNBA history, but there are a few reasons that riding off into the sunset would make sense for the three-time All-Star.
Quigley has played the 14th-most minutes in the league since arriving in Chicago in 2013 and has averaged more than 27 minutes per game overseas in five of her last six seasons. She is one of the most active off-ball threats in the league, and the physicality she plays with while fighting through screens is taxing over a 36-game season.
Then there’s the financial aspect that could affect the Sky’s depth in 2022. If Quigley returned at last season’s salary ($194,000, according to Her Hoop Stats’ database), they would be left with $286,121 in cap space to fill out four roster spots. Quigley would have to take a significant pay cut for the front office to figure out how to piece together the rest of the puzzle, and a player of her caliber shouldn’t have to settle financially if she feels she deserves more.
While it would be virtually impossible to replace the value Quigley brings to the Sky, signing Rebecca Allen would be a good start. According to Synergy Sports, the New York Liberty guard ranked 14th in the league last season in points per possession off catch-and-shoot opportunities (Quigley ranked third).
In a league shifting toward five-out offenses, the 6-foot-2 Allen would give Wade a viable replacement for Quigley and the ability to play with smaller lineups if he wanted to shift Allen to the wing.
3. Diamond DeShields receives a high offer sheet from the Atlanta Dream, and the Sky replace her with Riquana Williams.
By extending a qualifying offer to DeShields, the Sky are keeping their options open with the 2019 All-Star as she heads into restricted free agency. She told Wade at their end-of-season meeting she wants to return to Chicago. However, she also told the Sun-Times she wants “to be able to lead a team.”
With Parker in the last year of her contract and Copper and Vandersloot potentially back on one-year deals, there’s an urgency to make the most of that core’s potential this season. DeShields at times has looked like the player many thought would end up a superstar. But she has been inconsistent the last two years and has struggled to score efficiently in the half-court offense. The front office can’t wait on her as it puts together a championship-contending roster.
The market for wings isn’t deep, and all signs point to DeShields getting a lucrative deal elsewhere to prove she can be the 2019 version of herself. Atlanta seems like the most logical fit because the Dream are remaking their roster around Chennedy Carter and have the cap space to entice DeShields back to the city where she played in high school. She also would be reunited with former Sky forward Cheyenne Parker, with whom she played for three seasons.
From the Sky’s perspective, adding another scoring option to back up Allen would be ideal, and Las Vegas Aces guard Riquana Williams would fit the bill perfectly. She shot 41.7% from 3-point range last season and is one of the best pick-and-roll ballhandlers in the league.
Williams could have many suitors, but most teams have their backcourts figured out. A two-year, $195,000 deal, combined with signing Allen, would refill what the Sky would be losing in Quigley and DeShields.
4. Stefanie Dolson takes a pay cut to re-sign with the Sky on a 1-year deal.
On the “Equal Play” podcast, Dolson said she would be open to returning to the Sky on a team-friendly deal if it meant they could repeat as champions. Based on our predictions for the rest of the roster, the Sky would have the depth and star power to do that. However, it would mean a $40,000 to $50,000 decrease from what Dolson made in 2021.
As a stretch five, Dolson’s talent and ebullient personality could garner a more lucrative deal with a team such as the Liberty, who have problems on the interior. The Seattle Storm could be an option if they decide to clear multiple unprotected contracts off the books and bring in Dolson alongside her fellow former UConn stars Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart and Katie Lou Samuelson.
But Dolson returning to Chicago seems like the most logical fit for both sides. She’s good friends with Vandersloot — they roomed together along with Quigley in the 2020 “wubble” — and outside of the Dream and Aces, there aren’t a lot of teams with the cap space to sign her to a comparable salary to the one she received in 2021.
Meanwhile, the Sky would be able to use her with Allen and Williams in a similar fashion that they did with Quigley. Dolson is one of the fiercest screeners in the league and would free up the new sharpshooters.
5. The Sky explore the bottom of the free-agent pool.
After bringing back most of the core, this is where the Sky front office has to get creative. The Sky own the seventh pick in this year’s draft, which has a salary base of $69,224. Assuming they keep the pick, that would leave them with a little more than $62,000 in cap space. They would have to shop for players with two years of experience or less because veterans with three years or more make a minimum of $72,121.
There are very few WNBA-ready players in this year’s draft class. Depending on what Wade prioritizes come draft time, the Sky could try to find a point guard who can serve a similar role to what Lexie Brown did last season. One free agent whom Wade targeted before last year’s draft is former Stanford guard Kiana Williams. With sparse cap space, it wouldn’t hurt to take a flier on someone like Williams given how limited the free-agent pool is in 2022.
Summary
Here’s what the roster would look like if the Sky can pull off all of these moves:
Ballhandlers
Courtney Vandersloot ($190,000)
Dana Evans ($62,774)
Kiana Williams ($60,471)
Wings
Kahleah Copper ($228,094)
Rebecca Allen ($135,000)
Riquana Williams ($97,500)
First-round pick ($69,224)
Bigs
Candace Parker ($195,000)
Azurá Stevens ($140,000)
Stefanie Dolson ($125,000)
Ruthy Hebard ($73,121)
Remaining cap space: $2,926
James Kay is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
