2020 Chicago Sky season

The 2020 Chicago Sky season is the franchise's 15th season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). This will be the second season under head coach James Wade. The Sky will seek to improve on their previous season's record of 20–14.

2020 Chicago Sky season
CoachJames Wade
ArenaWintrust Arena
Attendanceper game
Results
Record0–0
Place0th (Eastern)
2021 season →

The season was initially scheduled to feature an all-time high 36 regular-season games, tipping off at the Sky's home Wintrust Arena on May 15, 2020.[1] However, this plan was halted on April 3, when the WNBA postponed its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2][3] Under a plan approved on June 15, the league is scheduled to hold a shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy, without fans present, starting on July 24.[4][5]

Transactions

WNBA Draft

The Sky will make the following selections in the 2020 WNBA Draft.

Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country
1 8 Ruthy Hebard  United States Oregon
3 30 Japreece Dean  United States UCLA
3 32 Kiah Gillespie  United States Florida State

Trades and Roster Changes
Date Trade or Roster Change
February 12, 2020 Acquired a first round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft in exchange for C Astou Ndour[6]
February 13, 2020 Signed G Sydney Colson[7]
February 14, 2020 Acquired F Azurá Stevens in exchange for F Katie Lou Samuelson and a first round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft[8]
February 15, 2020 Re-Signed G Kahleah Copper[9]
February 17, 2020 Re-Signed Stefanie Dolson[10]
February 19, 2020 Re-Signed Allie Quigley[11]
February 25, 2020 Re-Signed Courtney Vandersloot[12]

Roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
G51Colson, Sydney5' 8" (1.73m)140 lb (64kg)08-06-1989Texas A&M6
G/F2Copper, Kahleah6' 1" (1.85m)155 lb (70kg)08-28-1994Rutgers4
G1DeShields, Diamond6' 1" (1.85m)163 lb (74kg)03-05-1995Tennessee2
C31Dolson, Stefanie6' 5" (1.96m)231 lb (105kg)01-08-1992Connecticut6
FHebard, Ruthy6' 4" (1.93m)04-28-1998OregonR
F7Lavender, Jantel6' 4" (1.93m)185 lb (84kg)11-12-1988Ohio State9
F32Parker, Cheyenne6' 4" (1.93m)193 lb (88kg)08-22-1992Middle Tennessee5
G14Quigley, Allie5' 10" (1.78m)140 lb (64kg)06-20-1986DePaul11
F/C30Stevens, Azurá6' 6" (1.98m)180 lb (82kg)02-01-1996Connecticut2
G22Vandersloot, Courtney5' 8" (1.73m)145 lb (66kg)02-08-1989Gonzaga9
F15Williams, Gabby5' 11" (1.8m)172 lb (78kg)09-09-1996Connecticut2
Head coach
James Wade (Kennesaw State)
Assistant coaches
Olaf Lange
Bridget Pettis
Emre Vatansever
Athletic trainer
Meghan Lockerby
Strength and conditioning coach
Ann Crosby
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured
  WNBA roster page
East
ATL
CHI
CON
IND
NY
WAS
West
DAL
LV
LA
MIN
PHO
SEA

Season overview

The Sky entered the 2020 season looking to build on dramatic improvements in the previous season, when they reached the playoffs for the first time in three years and were recognized with three All-Star selections and a Coach of the Year Award.

During the free agency period, the Sky made few changes to their roster from the previous year. The team traded away Astou Ndour and 2019 first-round pick Katie Lou Samuelson, acquired third-year player Azurá Stevens via trade, and signed veteran Sydney Colson.[6][7][8] Free agents Allie Quigley, Courtney Vandersloot, and Stefanie Dolson were all re-signed to multi-year deals.[10][11][12] Amid many All-Star players in the league changing teams, the Sky's decision to largely bring back the previous year's team received a grade of B– from SB Nation.[13] On the other hand, women's basketball website Swish Appeal evaluated the Sky's decisions more positively and argued that the team positioned itself to contend for a championship.[14] The WNBA-focused publication Winsidr gave the Sky a B+, rating the retentions of key players and addition of Sydney Colson highly, but criticizing the value of the trade for Stevens.[15]

In the 2020 draft, the Sky selected Ruthy Hebard in the first round and Japreece Dean and Kiah Gillespie in the third round. The Sky received a grade of B in three post-draft evaluations from ESPN, CBS Sports, and SB Nation.[16][17][18]

Game log

Preseason
2020 pre-season game log
May: 0–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–0)
2020 pre-season schedule

Regular season
2020 game log
Total: 0–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–0)
May: 0–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–0)
June : 0–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–0)
July : 0–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–0)
August : 0–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–0)
September : 0–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–0)
2020 season schedule

Standings
# Team W L PCT GB Home Road Conf. Cup
1 Atlanta Dream00.00000–00–00–00–0
2 Connecticut Sun00.00000–00–00–00–0
3 Chicago Sky00.00000–00–00–00–0
4 Dallas Wings00.00000–00–00–00–0
5 Indiana Fever00.00000–00–00–00–0
6 Las Vegas Aces00.00000–00–00–00–0
7 Los Angeles Sparks00.00000–00–00–00–0
8 Minnesota Lynx00.00000–00–00–00–0
9 New York Liberty00.00000–00–00–00–0
10 Phoenix Mercury00.00000–00–00–00–0
11 Seattle Storm00.00000–00–00–00–0
12 Washington Mystics00.00000–00–00–00–0

Notes

(#) – League Standing
y– Clinched conference
x– Clinched playoff berth
e – Eliminated from playoffs
Source

References
  1. "Atlanta Dream Announce 2020 Schedule - Atlanta Dream". dream.wnba.com. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  2. "05/15/20: Minnesota Lynx @ Chicago Sky". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  3. "WNBA Statement Regarding the Start of the 2020 Regular Season". 2020-04-03. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  4. "WNBA Announces Plan To Tip Off 2020 Season". WNBA. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
  5. "WNBA announces plans for 2020 season to start late July in Florida". NBC Sports Washington. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  6. "Chicago Sky Acquires First-Round Pick in 2021 WNBA Draft in Exchange for Astou Ndour". sky.wnba.com. WNBA. February 12, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  7. "Chicago Sky Sign Guard Sydney Colson". Chicago Sky. 2020-02-13. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  8. "Chicago Sky Acquire Azura Stevens, Trade Katie Lou Samuelson to Dallas Wings". sky.wnba.com. WNBA. February 14, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  9. "Kahleah Copper Returns to Chicago, Re-Signs With Sky". sky.wnba.com. WNBA. February 15, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  10. "Chicago Sky Re-Sign Two-Time WNBA All-Star Center Stefanie Dolson". Chicago Sky. February 17, 2020. Retrieved 2020-02-17.
  11. "Chicago Sky Re-Sign Three-Time All-Star Allie Quigley". Chicago Sky. February 19, 2020. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  12. "Courtney Vandersloot Re-Signs With Chicago Sky". Chicago Sky. February 25, 2020. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  13. Ellentuck, Matt (2020-02-24). "Grading every team in WNBA's chaotic 2020 offseason". SBNation.com. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  14. Ariail, Cat (2020-02-25). "With VanderQuigs returning, plus arrival of Azurá Stevens and Sydney Colson, is the Sky the limit for Chicago?". Swish Appeal. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  15. "WNBA Free Agency Grades [Part 1] » Winsidr". Winsidr. 2020-03-05. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  16. "WNBA draft grades: Wings, Lynx score highest marks". ESPN.com. 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  17. "2020 WNBA Draft Tracker: Complete results, grades as Sabrina Ionescu taken with No. 1 pick by New York Liberty". CBSSports.com. 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  18. Merchant, Sabreena (2020-04-17). "Instant grades for every 2020 WNBA Draft first-round pick". SBNation.com. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
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