Who Won the 2024 WNBA Trade Between Sky and Lynx?
The 2024 WNBA Draft is one of the highest publicized and most anticipated events in league history. On April 15, 2024, 36 players had their names called at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. A record 2.4 million viewers tuned in to see the University of Iowa standout, Caitlin Clark, go first in the draft to the Indiana Fever. Cameron Brink was taken second by the Los Angeles Sparks ahead of the Chicago Sky's turn to make a pick.
With the third selection of the draft, Brazilian-born Kamilla Cardoso joined the Sky. This pick originally belonged to the Phoenix Mercury. It was not the only selection that involved a trade. The fifth overall pick that belonged to Chicago made its way to the Dallas Wings before they called Jay Sheldon's name.
The Minnesota Lynx owned the seventh pick and the Sky's second of two first round picks was next at number eight. For weeks, trade speculation surfaced about Chicago wanting to move up to take a coveted player to help improve their rebounding.
Former LSU product and NCAA Women's Basketball Champion Angel Reese was taken seventh by the Sky. Minnesota made Alissa Pili their choice with the eighth pick in the draft.
Chicago brought in two players who are tall, athletic, and able to play some defense, too. Cardoso and Reese's selections in last year's draft potentially set up their future success with a pair of skyscrapers capable of pulling down boards better than anyone in recent years.
"I'm a dog," Reese said. "You can't teach that. I want y'all to realize that [women's basketball is popular] not just because of one person, it's because of me too."
Despite Chicago not making the playoffs last year, Minnesota made it to another WNBA Finals appearance. Pili never really panned out for the Lynx. She was released after a season and a half by the team that gave her a chance.
Reese and Clark are the only two players from the 2024 WNBA Draft to make an All-Star selection. They now have done so in back-to-back seasons to begin their professional career.
With the emergence of Reese for Chicago, it helped soften the blow of their bust from the second round. With the 13th overall pick (the opening selection of the second round), the Sky took Brynna Maxwell. She was one of 17 players from the draft that year (nearly half) that have never taken the court in the WNBA.
One year from the 2024 WNBA Draft, the Chicago Sky owned two more first round picks going into this year's event. With consecutive picks at No. 10 and 11, Ajša Sivka and Hailey Van Lith were called to join Reese, Cardoso and Company.
Just like Maxwell, Sivka has not taken checked in for a single minute for the Sky. Van Lith benefits from having played with Reese during the 2023-24' NCAA Women's Basketball season.
Paige Bueckers and a pair of Washington Mystics rookies, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, have been selected to this year's All-Star game. Reese has been setting records for rebounds and double-doubles despite her team struggling to find wins.
"It’s not about Angel being better for us, it’s us being better for Angel," Sky head coach Tyler Marsh said.
Nonetheless, Reese was an ore of gold in the mining of the 2024 WNBA Draft. She was a much better pick than Alissa Pili or the other 28 names picked after her. In fact, Chicago's only All-Star this year is outperforming a heavy majority of the names from the 2025 WNBA Draft.
Trading up to get Reese, even though the Sky also took Cardoso, was one of the best moves this franchise has made since capturing their first WNBA title in 2021. Hopefully, that title will not be the only one in Chicago's history so long as Reese is wearing a Sky jersey.
Verdict: Though the Minnesota Lynx had the better season in 2024, the Sky won the Angel Reese-Alissa Pili trade on Draft Night.
My name is Scott Conrad and I am a Contributor for the Chicago Sky with Sports Illustrated.com. I am also a Contributor with FanSided on NinerNoise, as well as Da Windy City. In addition, I am the Site Editor/Expert for The View from Avalon. I spent two seasons (2015 & 2016) with the Tampa Bay Times as a Correspondent covering high school football. I am a two-time published author with more work to come. In my teenage years, I started watching both MLS and WNBA start in 1996 and grow to be the juggernauts they are in their respective sports. Much love to the career on and off the court for fellow-Napervillian and former Sky forward Candace Parker. Outside of the sports journalism world, I am a travel volleyball coach. I accepted the Head Coach position with Greater Cincinnati Volleyball Club for their U13-2 team. In terms of active sports, I play volleyball, soccer, softball, kickball and train in mixed martial arts.