CHICAGO — The Chicago Sky will have the third pick in a loaded 2025 WNBA Draft after Sunday’s lottery results.
The Sky will have a host of options to choose from – including Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles and Connecticut’s Azzi Fudd – as they aim to build their backcourt to complement Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese.
The Dallas Wings hit the lottery jackpot, landing the No. 1 pick they are widely expected to use on UConn superstar Paige Bueckers.
The Los Angeles Sparks got the second pick and the Washington Mystics will pick fourth.
Sunday’s results also closed the books on the Sky’s debilitating 2023 trade with the Wings for Marina Mabrey. They won’t have to trade their 2025 first-round pick to the Wings as part of this deal.
The Mabrey trade was executed by former coach/general manager James Wade, who left Sky five months later for an assistant coaching job with the NBA’s Toronto Raptors. Wade played most of Sky’s short-term draft stock: a 2023 first-round pick, 2024 first- and third-rounders and the 2025 pick swap as well as the rights to Leonie Fiebich.
General manager Jeff Pagliocca rebuilt the Sky’s draft stock for 2024 and 2025 through a series of trades last season, which included sending Kahleah Copper to the Phoenix Mercury for the No. 3 pick in 2024, used for selecting Cardoso, and sending Mabrey to the Connecticut Sun at the Olympic break to add what turned out to be the No. 10 pick in 2025. The Sky also drafted Reese last year with the No. 7 pick.
With their draft picks set, the Sky front office will now turn their attention to establishing a protected list for the expansion draft (December 6) and the start of free agency (January 21) .
____
