Chicago Sky’s latest free agent acquisition could elevate Angel Reese, Kamila Cardoso to new heights

Courtney Vandersloot is headed back to the Chicago Sky, the Chicago Sun-Times’ Annie Costabile first reported Wednesday afternoon.

Vandersloot — a five-time WNBA All-Star and two-time WNBA champion — is fresh off of a championship with the New York Liberty in which she was a key contributor off the bench.

But, in her Unrivaled media availability earlier this month, Vandersloot’s comments indicated she may want a bigger role than she had in New York. In the postseason, she was removed from the starting lineup in favor of Leonie Fiebich and logged just 14.4 minutes per game. The 35-year-old point guard was effective in her minutes, averaging 5.3 points and 2.5 assists and shooting 38.5% from three.

“I want to be valued, I want to be competitive – obviously, that’s why you come into this league, to compete for championships,” Vandersloot said. “A place that takes care of me, wants me to be there, sees what I can bring to the team. That’s most important. I want to have the ball in my hand, and to be able to create the way that I think that I can, and just be in a place that is comfortable for me and my family.”

Vandersloot played for Chicago from 2011 to 2022, and averaged double-digit points in 7 of those seasons. She’s largely considered one of the WNBA’s best passes; she is the Sky’s all-time assists leader, and the WNBA’s second all-time assists leader.

Angel Reese averaged 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds per game last year, and Kamilla Cardoso averaged 9.8 points and 7.8 rebounds.

But, the Sky lacked a primary playmaker to feed the ball in the post to their two rookie post players. No player that finished the year in Chicago finished the season with more than 4 assists per game (Marina Mabrey averaged 4.5 assists, but she was traded at the deadline).

Vandersloot won’t suddenly elevate Reese into an incredible finisher around the basket — though she’s already appeared to be improving in this regard — but she will set her up more effectively than any guard on last year’s roster was able to do so. Cardoso, in particular, will benefit from Vandersloot’s presence at point guard given how much her game relies on being effectively fed in the post.

In addition to being one of the league’s most reliable playmakers, Vandersloot should serve as a reliable veteran presence in a young Chicago Sky locker room. The Sky remain one of the league’s youngest teams, and also have the No. 3 pick available in the 2025 draft, where they’re likely to add another young player.

She’s currently playing in Unrivaled, the new professional women’s 3-on-3 basketball league that Reese is also a part of, but whether the two have had substantial conversations regarding a collective future in Chicago hasn’t been explicitly reported to date.

The move won’t be made official until Feb. 1, when players can sign contracts. But, it marks the second major departure for a New York Liberty team that won its first franchise championship last season. Veteran forward Kayla Thornton was selected by the Golden State Valkyries in their Expansion Draft last month.

The Liberty may be eyeing a massive free-agent target, though. ESPN’s Alexa Phillipu reported on SportsCenter that Satou Sabally’s top two free agency destinations are the Phoenix Mercury and the Liberty. Sabally, who has spent her entire career on the Dallas Wings to date, has also previously expressed her desire to eventually join forces with her sister, Liberty forward Nyara Sabally. Last season, she averaged 17.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 5 assists in 15 games on the Wings.