Three Reasons Sky GM Jeff Pagliocca Should Be Gone
In October 2023, Jeff Pagliocca was named the General Manager of the Chicago Sky. After an early playoff exit at the hands of the Las Vegas Aces, the Sky now had a different head coach and their new GM in place.
Chicago won their first and only WNBA championship in 2021. Despite that only being four years ago, the last two seasons have been dismal for the Sky. Combined, the team has won just 23 games and lost more than 60 under two different head coaches.
our city. our fans. our family.
— Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) September 12, 2025
thank you for being our heartbeat all season long🩵
see y’all in 2026! pic.twitter.com/Dd7DIwdnPV
The roster built around a pair of 2024 star rookies, forward Angel Reese and center Kamilla Cardoso, has not resulted in a winning season, much less a playoff appearance since 2023's first round exit.
This year's rookies, guard Hailey Van Lith and forward Maddy Westbeld have produced less than Reese and Cardoso did in their first WNBA seasons. Multiple reasons are visible on why this team has not been winning or succcessful. Thus, there are just as many reasons to fire their GM, Pagliocca.
— Jeff Pagliocca (@JeffPagliocca) November 15, 2024
Pagliocca made a coaching change and the Sky did worse.
When Jeff Pagliocca came to Chicago to be the general manager, he expressed nothing but excitement and positivity. That even included working with former Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon.
"I am beyond grateful to be named the new General Manager of the Chicago Sky," said Pagliocca. "With a strong background in strategy, player development, and tenure with this team, I am eager to build upon our tradition of excellence, hard work, and winning, in this energizing new chapter of Sky basketball. Expect us to bring unmatched toughness, grit, and relentless competitive spirit to Chicago."
Pagliocca also added, "I'm very proud to partner with Coach Weatherspoon and the Sky front office to shape a championship-caliber roster." After one season, he fired Weatherspoon, who was a former WNBA player with multiple seasons of playoff experience and playing in the WNBA Finals during her time on the New York Liberty.
Despite making the playoffs in 2023, the Sky were not one of the better rebounding teams. They only recorded 33.3 rebounds per game, good enough for ninth best out of 12 WNBA teams.
With the additions of Reese and Cardoso, Chicago became the league's best rebounding team with 36.6 boards a game. That was more than a three-rebound improvement in 2024 under Weatherspoon. Yet, the Sky ranked second-worst in the WNBA in scoring with just 77.4 points per game.
Pagliocca fired Weatherspoon after the team won just 13 games. With new head coach Tyler Marsh, the team became the lowest scoring team with a 75.8 points per game average. Under Weatherspoon, the Sky averaged about 13 turnovers a game in 2024, whereas Chicago had the highest turnover ratio (15.6 per game) this season with Marsh as the coach.
That Ariel Atkins trade is feeding families https://t.co/p2hbMG7Zp2
— Kitron '28 (@DriveSlow_Homie) July 6, 2025
Pagliocca made the Sky worse, twice, during the 2025 WNBA Draft.
With the third overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, guard Sonia Citron was available. She ended up being named a WNBA All-Star in her rookie season, but not for the Chicago Sky. In addition to Van Lith and Westbeld being underwhelming players in their first WNBA season, the Sky general manager also set Chicago up poorly for the future.
Instead, Pagliocca traded Citron's draft rights to the Washington Mystics for a player with one year left on their $400,000 deal. Essentially, the Sky paid more for veteran Ariel Atkins and could lose her this off-season for nothing, and fumbled away an All-Star guard who could have helped Chicago with some of their scoring woes for a few more seasons longer.
In addition to giving up Citron, the Sky allowed the Mystics to swap 2027 first-rounders. Assuming Chicago's first round pick is higher than Washington's in two years, then this trade gets even worse. Now Pagliocca has a disgruntled star in Reese on his team and more than a dozen roster spots to fill as several of the Sky's players from this year are free agents.
feed
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.