As Angel Reese returns to Chicago with Dream, Sky work to re-imagine their future

5 black explorer Sky jersey is still available at sporting goods stores across the Chicago area. Reese is the elephant in the room this preseason in Chicago, a supersized embodiment of the franchise’s three-year free-fall from championship contention. The Sky hit rock bottom last season, finishing with a lousy 10 wins and failing to make the playoffs for the second straight year.

Tension between Reese and the team’s front office became a storyline, and Reese — the franchise centerpiece as one of the Sky’s 2024 first-round draft picks — was traded to the Atlanta Dream for two first-round draft picks earlier this month. Over the last three years, the microscope on the Sky has never been more magnified than it is now. Scrutiny has consumed the franchise over its handling of Reese, but also because of the widely perceived mistakes and failed experiments since the Sky’s lone title season in 2021.

The question hanging over the team now, as it embarks on a new season with a remade roster, is whether the team can start building back to an elite level in the WNBA as its competitors construct superteams in the league’s unprecedented new-money era. Reese will return to Chicago on Wednesday, making her preseason debut with the Dream, and despite the discord of last season, the two-time All-Star called it an “exciting opportunity” to return to the city she was drafted to. “I loved my experience there,” Reese told reporters in Atlanta earlier in the week.

“It was amazing, and seeing a lot of familiar faces on Wednesday is going to be good. ” Sky general manager Jeff Pagliocca believes his first step in the process of making Chicago competitive was dealing Reese to the Dream. Despite what the Sky gave up to get Reese in 2024, her pairing with center Kamilla Cardoso, whom the Sky selected No.