It’s time to talk about it.
Would the Chicago Sky be better off without Angel Reese?
They fell to 2-7 on the WNBA season on Friday night as they were destroyed by the Atlanta Dream in the fourth quarter. It’s in the little moments that Reese’s big-picture future in Chicago was forced to come into focus.
On multiple fourth-quarter possessions, Reese failed to even make it back over halfcourt to help defend, and twice, the Dream then corralled offensive rebounds and scored second-chance points.
There wasn’t even great reason for her to cheat down the floor. Earlier in the quarter, she went deep for a pass over the top that was on the money, then couldn’t even finish the layup.
Reese isn’t all bad. She genuinely is one of the league’s top rebounders, even when you factor in some of her own misses that she grabs.
She’s also an intriguing ball handler and passer for a frontcourt player that probably could be asked to use those skills more.
But the Sky haven’t figured it out.
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They’ve got a different frontcourt centerpiece, Kamilla Cardoso, the 6-foot-7 center who they chose four picks ahead of Reese in the 2024 WNBA Draft.
It’s not even an inherent complaint against Reese to wonder whether this isn’t the best fit. It clearly, so far this season, has not worked.
She wouldn’t be the first big-name athlete to draw too much attention off the court to be worth the bumps on it.
In a weird way, Tim Tebow comes to mind. Teams didn’t even want him to be their backup QB because it would invite Tebow-mania.
Reese is a bit different, because she’s a starting-level player, no question.
But she isn’t a franchise player, not at her current offensive skill level, yet that’s the kind of attention she receives.
It may become tiring for the Sky.
And so although it may not come soon, there may come a time when Chicago chooses to trade Reese. It would make gigantic headlines, but at the end of the day, it would probably end up being a decent choice.
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