A playoff spot remains within reach for the Chicago Sky.
Even after falling out of playoff position Friday — and even after collapsing Sunday in a 93-88 loss to the Phoenix Mercury at Wintrust Arena, their 10th defeat in 12 games — the Sky (13-25) haven’t lost hope.
The Atlanta Dream (13-25) beat the Washington Mystics (13-25) earlier Sunday, creating a three-way tie for the last spot in the postseason. And that means the Sky still have a shot at sneaking into the playoffs if they win their final two games on the road this week.
The Sky haven’t missed the playoffs since 2018. But as they enter the final stretch of the regular season, they face a crucial question:
Is a playoff berth even in this team’s best interests?
At the Olympic break, making the playoffs was a reasonable goal for the Sky as they begin a long-term build around rookies Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese. A first-round series could have given both first-round draft picks — along with other young newcomers such as Chennedy Carter — an important experience without expectations to produce a deep postseason run.
But things are different now. The Sky don’t have the juice for a deep playoff run. Their offense has plummeted, averaging a league-worst 75.5 points since the Olympic break. Reese is sidelined for the rest of the season with a wrist injury. And the bench is a nonfactor while the Sky rely on Carter and Cardoso to shoulder the bulk of the scoring.
There’s a reason the Sky haven’t beaten a team over .500 since July, when they upset the Las Vegas Aces in the final game before the Olympic break.
So if the Sky aren’t going to make a run, what exactly is the point of chasing a playoff berth? That answer isn’t clear — especially now that a berth would bear diminishing returns due to injury concerns for both rookies.
Losing Reese was already a blow to the Sky’s playoff chances — and to the value of taking this team into the postseason. That trend continued when Cardoso aggravated her right shoulder — which she dislocated during her preseason debut — in Friday’s loss to the Minnesota Lynx.
Although coach Teresa Weatherspoon said Cardoso was not under a minutes restriction, the center played only nine minutes Sunday after showing visible discomfort throughout the first half.
The possibility of Cardoso being reinjured should make the Sky wary for the rest of the regular season. But injuries to Reese and Cardoso aren’t the only reason missing the playoffs might be for the best. If the Sky are going to keep up the pace of this rebuild, they need to run it back in the 2025 draft.
While “super team” construction in free agency has become more prevalent in the WNBA in recent seasons, success in this league still is built through the draft. The most recent example is the Indiana Fever, who earned lottery picks for seven consecutive years to build out their current core around No. 1 pick Caitlin Clark.
The Sky still have plenty of building to do — especially at guard, where they struggled throughout this season. If they make the playoffs, they would land outside the lottery, which could place their pick as low as No. 6 depending on how the WNBA seeds the expansion Golden State Valkyries in the draft.
If they miss the playoffs, however, the Sky could land as high as the No. 2 pick, with an additional top-10 pick courtesy of a trade with the Connecticut Sun.
To be clear, the Sky can’t truly tank. The Dallas Wings own swap rights for their first-round pick, so they wouldn’t be able to keep the No. 1 pick (projected to be Connecticut star Paige Bueckers) even if they won the lottery. But that doesn’t mean a lower lottery pick wouldn’t be valuable with other guards such as Olivia Miles, Georgia Amoore and potentially Azzi Fudd on the board this year.
Winning feels good. And a playoff berth would offer a redemptive conclusion to a season wracked with growing pains. But if the Sky are looking to build for long-term success, their priorities for the final week of this season should be protecting Cardoso’s health and ensuring a solid draft position — even if that means a little short-term discomfort.
