With two picks among first seven selections, the Chicago Sky were able to load up on star power and championship pedigree at the WNBA Draft Monday night.
After Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and Stanford’s Cameron Brink predictably went off the board in the first two spots, the Chicago Sky had a bevy of talent to choose from at No. 3.
The team chose to immediately upgrade at center, selecting 6-foot-7 Kamilla Cardoso from NCAA national champion South Carolina. Four picks later, the Chicago Sky made the pick everyone knew was coming after a weekend trade with the Minnesota Lynx, ripping LSU forward out of the headlines at No. 7.
Chicago Sky Leap Lovingly Into the Drama that Surrounds Reese
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The Lynx may have been scared off by the potential baggage that the polarizing Reese could bring to Minnesota. The holders of the No. 7 pick heading into the weekend, the Lynx swapped it to the Chicago Sky for the No. 8 selection in a multi-faceted trade.
Reese was known to be coveted by the Chicago Sky, while little was spoken of her in Minnesota. The three-time Associated Press All-American forward was passionately loved or hated by fans for her fiery passion on court, as well as her well-documented on-court feud with Iowa’s Caitlin Clark — who was selected No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever.
A media circus is sure to follow the LSU forward to the pro level. The Chicago Sky, playing in a well-known national market and world city may be a better landing spot for Reese than Minnesota, a historically successful WNBA team, but one playing in a smaller and more remote upper-Midwest locale.
Off the court, she has the opportunity the be one of the most marketable names in the league. On the court, WNBA followers will be keen to see if her tremendous rebounding and two-way skills translate to the pro game.
Cardoso Exactly What Chicago Sky Needed
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There was a desperate need to upgrade the Chicago Sky frontcourt heading into Monday night. The team was next to last in the league in defensive field goal percentage last season and was in tremendous need of getting bigger and badder in the paint.
Kamilla Cardoso has entered the chat.
The bruising 6-foot-7 post player who just helped her Gamecocks to the 2024 NCAA title — her second — fell into the Chicago Sky’s lap like a money bag dropping out of an airplane. Cardoso excels at running the floor despite her size making low-post offense cool again in an era of firing shots from the cheap seats.
Cardoso is a dominating rim defender that anchored the top defense in women’s college basketball again, all while contributing double-digit scoring efforts throughout her collegiate career.
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Tom Carothers is a sportswriter with more than 20 years of experience covering sports at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. Still longing for the return of his Minnesota North Stars, he has a high pain tolerance as a big fan of the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Browns, and Tottenham Hotspur.
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