Courtney Vandersloot is headed again to the Chicago Sky, the Chicago Solar-Occasions’ Annie Costabile first reported Wednesday afternoon.
Vandersloot — a five-time WNBA All-Star and two-time WNBA champion — is contemporary off of a championship with the New York Liberty through which she was a key contributor off the bench.
However, in her Unmatched media availability earlier this month, Vandersloot’s feedback indicated she might need a larger position than she had in New York. Within the postseason, she was faraway from the beginning lineup in favor of Leonie Fiebich and logged simply 14.4 minutes per sport. The 35-year-old level guard was efficient in her minutes, averaging 5.3 factors and a couple of.5 assists and capturing 38.5% from three.
“I need to be valued, I need to be aggressive – clearly, that’s why you come into this league, to compete for championships,” Vandersloot stated. “A spot that takes care of me, desires me to be there, sees what I can deliver to the staff. That’s most essential. I need to have the ball in my hand, and to have the ability to create the best way that I believe that I can, and simply be in a spot that’s comfy for me and my household.”
Vandersloot performed for Chicago from 2011 to 2022, and averaged double-digit factors in 7 of these seasons. She’s largely thought-about one of many WNBA’s finest passes; she is the Sky’s all-time assists chief, and the WNBA’s second all-time assists chief.
How Courtney Vandersloot will profit Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso
Angel Reese averaged 13.6 factors and 13.1 rebounds per sport final yr, and Kamilla Cardoso averaged 9.8 factors and seven.8 rebounds.
However, the Sky lacked a main playmaker to feed the ball within the publish to their two rookie publish gamers. No participant that completed the yr in Chicago completed the season with greater than 4 assists per sport (Marina Mabrey averaged 4.5 assists, however she was traded on the deadline).
Vandersloot received’t immediately elevate Reese into an unimaginable finisher across the basket — although she’s already seemed to be bettering on this regard — however she’s going to set her up extra successfully than any guard on final yr’s roster was in a position to take action. Cardoso, specifically, will profit from Vandersloot’s presence at level guard given how a lot her sport depends on being successfully fed within the publish.
Along with being one of many league’s most dependable playmakers, Vandersloot ought to function a dependable veteran presence in a younger Chicago Sky locker room. The Sky stay one of many league’s youngest groups, and still have the No. 3 decide accessible within the 2025 draft, the place they’re probably so as to add one other younger participant.
She’s presently taking part in in Unmatched, the brand new skilled ladies’s 3-on-3 basketball league that Reese can also be part of, however whether or not the 2 have had substantial conversations relating to a collective future in Chicago hasn’t been explicitly reported to this point.
Vandersloot’s departs from the New York Liberty after two seasons
The transfer received’t be made official till Feb. 1, when gamers can signal contracts. However, it marks the second main departure for a New York Liberty staff that received its first franchise championship final season. Veteran ahead Kayla Thornton was chosen by the Golden State Valkyries of their Enlargement Draft final month.
The Liberty could also be eyeing an enormous free-agent goal, although. ESPN’s Alexa Phillipu reported on SportsCenter that Satou Sabally’s high two free company locations are the Phoenix Mercury and the Liberty. Sabally, who has spent her whole profession on the Dallas Wings to this point, has additionally beforehand expressed her need to finally be a part of forces together with her sister, Liberty ahead Nyara Sabally. Final season, she averaged 17.9 factors, 6.4 rebounds, and 5 assists in 15 video games on the Wings.
