Sky Make Multiple Moves in Busy Free Agency Period
Call this Chicago Sky offseason what you want, but at least no one can call it uneventful.
The Sky leapt off the mark during the final portion of the league's free agency timeline with a trio of transactions, which included bringing a familiar face from the championship era back into the fold a few years after it officially came to a close. The three moves followed up Elizabeth Williams, a veteran center who played an anchor role in the pair of eras that followed, agreeing to re-sign on a fully-guaranteed deal with the Sky for $1.2 million over the course of two years. The Sky shocked the WNBA world by trading their young centerpiece in Angel Reese to the Atlanta Dream. They also extended a core qualifying offer to guard Ariel Atkins and a reserved qualifying offer to guard Sevgi Uzun.
Sky Sign Skylar Diggins
The Sky signed Skylar Diggins to a 2-year contract, according to a Saturday tweet from ESPN Women's Basketball Reporter Alexa Philippou. Diggins earned her seventh All-Star selection during her second season with the Seattle Storm, where she averaged 15.5 points, six assists and 1.2 steals per game. The 6-time All-WNBA selection faced Chicago in the 2021 WNBA Finals, where the Sky prevailed in a 4-game series to claim their first championship in franchise history. She will be the latest in a revolving door of starting point guards that began following the departure of Courtney Vandersloot, who joined the Sky for another season in 2025 following two years with the New York Liberty.
Sky Sign Azurá Stevens
She's back.
The Windy City welcomed Azurá Stevens home on a 3-year deal after a 3-year hiatus with the Los Angeles Sparks. The former Sky champion played and started in all 44 games for the Sparks last season, where she would average 12.8 points, eight rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 blocks per game. Stevens, the former Duke teammate of Williams during its 2014-15 campaign, spent three seasons with the Sky after the Dallas Wings shipped her to Chicago in exchange for forward Katie Lou Samuelson and a 2021 1st-rounder.
Sky Trade for Jacy Sheldon
Jeff Pagliocca, now a devoted disciple of the great Ted Stepien, shipped off Chicago's 2028 1st-round pick to the Washington Mystics in exchange for guard Jacy Sheldon. The former Ohio State standout has called three teams home during the first two seasons of her WNBA career. She most recently suited up in two games for the Mystics following an August trade with the Connecticut Sun. Sheldon played in one matchup against the Sky last season, a 12-point Connecticut loss that saw her score 12 points while tacking on four rebounds and three steals.
Sky Re-Sign Rachel Banham
Chicago on a 1-year, $425,000 deal. Banham, who was brought over from the Connecticut Sun in a 2024 trade, logged 33 starts for the Sky last season. The former Minnesota guard averaged a career-high nine points per game during her 10th season in the WNBA. She, along with Diggins and guard Rebecca Allen, would take her talents to South Beach to suit up for the Lunar Owls in Unrivaled.
Sky Re-Sign Elizabeth Williams
The Sky officially re-signed Williams to a 2-year contract. The former All-Star has spent the last three seasons in Chicago, where she earned an All-Defensive Second Team selection in 2023. The defensive stalwart played in 43 games and earned 15 starts last season, where she averaged 8.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. She would finish 13 games with two blocks or more last year, including a season-high three in a loss to the Dream.
Alex Sabri began contributing to the BIGPLAY Network in September 2025. He also contributes to Chicago Sky on SI and FanSided's High Post Hoops. The Purdue and Cleveland State graduate has over two years of journalism experience in collegiate and professional sports, as well as local journalism, and a few more years of sports blogging experience. Though he specializes in covering Ohio sports for BIGPLAY, his interests include the NBA, WNBA, NFL, Cleveland Guardians and college football and basketball.