The Chicago Sky are looking to defend their 2021 championship with a sought of free agency signings. Chicago will bring back most of their core players in a slew of moves, including Courtney Vandersloot, Kahleah Copper, and Allie Quigley.
After Holly Rowe reported during the WNBA free agency special that Vandersloot was thinking of sitting out due to “a disrespectful” offer from Chicago, the Sky was able to agree with Sloot on a one-year deal. Vandersloot, who has led the WNBA in assists for the last five seasons, is Chicago’s floor general; losing her for the season would have been detrimental to the Sky’s season.
Also returning is Finals MVP Copper; Annie Costabile of the Chicago Sun-Times first reported it. Copper will return to Chicago on a two-year deal. In the Chicago Sky playoff run, Copper averaged 17.7 ppg while adding 5.3 RPG.
In another move, Quigley will also be returning to Chicago, according to Khristina Williams of Girls Talk Sports TV. The sharpshooting of Quigley’s future in the WNBA was uncertain as some rumors of a possible retirement were floating around. Quigley, who is in her 13th season, is one of the best shooters in the WNBA. Her ability to stretch the floor to open up the post-game for Chicago’s frontcourt has been important to Chicago’s offense.
The Belgium Connection
After losing Stefanie Dolson to the New York Liberty, General Manager James Wade made another free agency splash signing 2019 Finals MVP Emma Meesseman. With the signing of Meesseman, the Sky are the first team with three final MVPs since the 2016-2018 Minnesota Lynx. (Parker 2016) (Meesseman 2019) and (Copper 2021).
Emma hasn’t played in the WNBA since 2020 but has competed for her country’s national team and was recently named MVP of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup. In the qualifying tournament, she averaged 18ppg, 5.3apg along with 7.0rpg. Meesseman joins an already stacked frontcourt in Chicago with Candace Parker and Azurá Stevens.
Chicago did lose Dolson in free agency and traded away Diamond DeShields. But they also gained a young point guard in Julie Allemand. Allemand was impressive in her Rookie season in 2020; where she shot 47% from 3 while also averaging more than 5 assists per game, coming second to Vandersloot as a league leader in assists.
Chicago has put themselves in a great position as the first team to repeat as champions in 20 years. And if everything comes together, the championship has a great chance of staying in the windy city.
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