Chicago Sky GM Addresses Angel Reese's Future With Team
The Chicago Sky ended their 2025 WNBA regular season with a loss against the New York Liberty, which feels indicative of how their entire campaign had gone.
Chicago finished the year with a 10-34 record and a .227 winning percentage, which was tied for last in the league with the Dallas Wings and shows regression from the .325 winning percentage they produced in 2024. In addition to this team's struggles off the court, the turmoil that took place within the locker room (specifically over the past couple of weeks) has become perhaps the biggest story in all of women's basketball.
This stems from blunt criticism that Sky second-year star Angel Reese has for her franchise in a September 3 article from the Chicago Tribune. While Reese was quoted as saying many things in this article, some of what stood out was how she believed veteran point guard Courtney Vandersloot was too old to lead the team to the post season and that the Sky's front office needed to do more in free agency to attract top talent than they did one season ago.
And if they didn't, then Reese asserted that she would have no problem leaving the franchise.
The person in charge of Sky roster personnel is GM Jeff Pagliocca, who has been the subject of much criticism this season due to his team's struggles. In fact, a "Fire Jeff" chant could be heard within Chicago's Wintrust Arena during the team's game against the Liberty on Thursday.
Fire Jeff chants with the bench reacting. 😭 pic.twitter.com/cT1WdTPavs
— kimberly. (@problemsthots) September 12, 2025
Jeff Pagliocca Sends Message About Angel Reese's Future With Chicago Sky
Pagliocca spoke with the media for an exit interview on September 12. And at one point, he was asked about Reese's standing with the team.
"Angel's an ascending young talent in this league who's had two very good seasons here in Chicago," Pagliocca said, per an X post from sports journalist Andy Diederich.
"I have good conversations with Angel daily... Until I hear differently, she's on the roster," he continued.
Jeff Pagliocca on Angel Reese's willingness to be in Chicago: "Angel's an ascending young talent in this league who's had 2 very good seasons here in Chicago... I have good conversations with Angel daily...until I hear differently, she's on the roster."
— Andy Diederich (@ndyDiederich) September 12, 2025
Regarding Pagliocca's last sentence, it's unclear who exactly Pagliocca would be hearing from. But it does seem like he's at least willing to mend the fences between these two sides and bring Reese (who was on a private jet hours after the season ended and didn't conduct an exit interview on September 12) back next year.
Then again, perhaps Pagliocca is alluding to hearing from Reese herself about wanting a trade, which could quickly change matters.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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