It’s official: The Sky’s 2027 pick swap with the Mystics has entered fiasco territory.
With the Sky eliminated from the playoffs and the Mystics clinching a spot, Chicago will send Washington a lottery pick and receive a nonlottery pick in return.
The swap was part of the price general manager Jeff Pagliocca paid to acquire Ariel Atkins in 2025. The Sky also surrendered the No. 3 pick in that draft, which became two-time All-Star Sonia Citron.
Atkins was traded a year later for Rickea Jackson. Pagliocca has defended the move, maintaining that falling a few spots in the 2027 draft would be well worth it for a talent like Jackson.
Jackson certainly looked good in the four games before tearing her ACL — 22 points per game good.
But the current projections suggest the Sky will fall more than a few spots. Chicago’s pick is most likely to land at No. 3 in the lottery, while the Mystics currently are in line for No. 9.
That could mean sending out the pick that becomes Notre Dame star Hannah Hidalgo and receiving one used on someone in the range of South Carolina forward Ashlyn Watkins. Not great!
The Sky also cannot devalue the pick by winning out, in part because lottery odds are determined by two-year records. Their only hope for damage control is the lottery itself.
Although No. 3 is the most likely outcome, the Sky’s pick could fall as low as No. 5. In pick-swap purgatory, falling qualifies as good luck because it would leave the Mystics with a worse pick.
That certainly would be easier to swallow than the other extreme: The basketball gods could damn the Sky further by handing them the No. 1 pick, which could become USC star JuJu Watkins, only for them to send it to Washington.
Close comfort
Coach Tyler Marsh told the Sun-Times last week that what bothers him most about this season is how many close games they let slip away. His point guard feels the same.
“This is one of those seasons that you’re gonna look back and have games that you just wish you could get back,” Courtney Vandersloot told the Sun-Times. “I think we’re definitely a better team than our record shows, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to win those games.”
Coach and point guard also are united in the belief that the Sky are still headed in the right direction. Their young core of Kamilla Cardoso, Rickea Jackson and Sydney Taylor looks promising. And unlike last season, when they were rarely competitive, the Sky have given everyone a fight.
“I think we just have to continue to build off that and know that we’re two possessions away in each game from being in the playoffs,” Vandersloot said. “That’s our mentality.”
Restricted movement
Taylor has been limited to around 16 minutes per game since returning from a groin injury. She gets why the medical team is being cautious but wishes she could play free of the restriction.
Taylor told the Sun-Times that she initially strained her right groin in Atlanta on July 19. She continued playing through it and began compensating, eventually sustaining a more serious strain to her left groin against the Mercury on Aug. 3.
