Sky's Top Two Storylines for Home Stretch
The Chicago Sky are officially rounding the home stretch of their 2025 campaign after 33 games. They have a quarter of their schedule to go in the longest regular season in WNBA history, which has seen them struggle to adjust under a new head coach and with a handful of new starters. They capped off their 33rd game with a loss to the Golden State Valkyries, which pushed them to 8-25 on the year and 0-3 against the expansion franchise.
What are some of the team's biggest storylines before they hit Game 44 next month?
Will the Sky keep strengthening the youth movement?
Made up of a pair of rookies and a shining duo of sophomore bigs, the Sky will need to do everything they can to strengthen their active young foundation before what could be a key offseason for the league as a whole.
Chicago will have plenty to look forward to in the next few years if it can fully unlock the potential of what could be home run picks, which will mean giving them all the room they need to improve and iron things out before the end of the year. Center Kamilla Cardoso has averaged just over 26 minutes per game this season, which ranks fifth in the league among sophomore players. Guard Hailey Van Lith and forward Maddy Westbeld are beginning to see more consistent minutes of their own, including about 25 in Friday's bout. Reese has been sidelined with a back injury since July 29, but still proved to be a star for the Sky in the 23 games she took the floor for them this season.
Can the Sky turn their scoring around?
The Sky will need to up their scoring production after seeing one of their worst scoring outputs in recent memory.
They're currently in 12th place in the WNBA in points per game and offensive rating. Their mark of just under 75 points per game is their lowest since 2011. Chicago hasn't hit the 80-point mark since a late-July loss to the Washington Mystics and has scored fewer than 70 points in five of their last seven matchups. It can turn to a few players to get a bucket or two in a pinch, but it has yet to find a true scorer who can pick up the slack when it needs it most.
It may take nothing short of a miracle to add some life to the Sky's offense this year. They must keep playing with purpose and feeding their talented bigs inside as they did during the first half of their loss to the Valkyries when they take on some of the league's better defenses later down the line.
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.