Top Thing Sky Should Look for Before Trade Deadline
To trade or not to trade?
Should the Chicago Sky stand pat and keep working with their current roster? Or should they take a chance on a mid-season swap in what little time they have left before the WNBA Trade Deadline?
Chicago has been relatively quiet at the deadline in years past, but hasn't been afraid to make notable mid-season trades in a new era of Sky basketball. It sent guard Marina Mabrey to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for Rachel Banham, Moriah Jefferson and a 2026 first-round pick swap about a month before last year's deadline. While it hasn't made any trades this season, it signed Sevgi Uzun, who last suited up for the Dallas Wings and the Phoenix Mercury, to a rest-of-season contract to fill its final roster spot last week.
The Sky still have some time to switch things up before the 3 p.m. EDT deadline on Thursday. A few teams, including an Eastern Conference rival in the Washington Mystics, have already shaken things up with some notable trades just days before the deadline. Washington traded All-Star guard Brittney Sykes to the Seattle Storm on Tuesday. The Minnesota Lynx added a 2024 All-Defensive selection in DiJonai Carrington from the Dallas Wings in exchange for Diamond Miller and Karlie Samuelson just a few days before.
What should Chicago look out for the most before moving on to the home stretch of its 2025 campaign? Will it be enough to spark some hope in time for a much-needed surge before its playoff window officially comes to a close?
Perimeter Defenders
It's no secret the Sky need some help locking down the perimeter.
They rank near the bottom of the league in a handful of defensive categories, including defensive rating and opponent 3-point percentage. Teams have hit 40% or more of their tries from beyond the arc against the Sky nine times this season, or on three more occasions than all of last year, including in a May loss that saw the New York Liberty rain down 19 long-range shots at Wintrust Arena. Chicago added a notable perimeter defender in Ariel Atkins during the offseason, who logged two steals in her first game back from injury, but will need to add more if they hope to turn things around in the near future.
Chicago may be able to try to spark some life into its long-range attack after falling into a recent slump, but will ultimately benefit from adding capable defenders at the arc to pair with their interior defenders. With limited room and time to work with, it could be difficult to pull off a trade just in time, but it may be necessary to make the Sky a more balanced and competitive squad before game 44 rolls around in just over one month.
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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.