2020 Chicago Sky season


The 2020 Chicago Sky season is the franchise's 15th season in the Women's National Basketball Association. 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.
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. However, this plan was halted on April 3, when the WNBA postponed its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 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. Under this plan, the Sky's first game will be July 26, versus the Las Vegas Aces.

Transactions

WNBA Draft

The Sky will make the following selections in the 2020 WNBA Draft.
RoundPickPlayerNationalitySchool/Team/Country
18Ruthy HebardOregon
330Japreece DeanUCLA
332Kiah GillespieFlorida State

Trades and Roster Changes

Roster

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. Free agents Allie Quigley, Courtney Vandersloot, and Stefanie Dolson were all re-signed to multi-year deals. 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. 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. 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.
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.
In March, the WNBA season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jantel Lavender will miss this season due to recovery from surgery on a broken foot, and Sydney Colson missed the beginning of the season due to recovery from COVID-19. Stefanie Dolson was also afflicted with COVID-19, but recovered before the start of the delayed season. On June 29, the Sky signed guard Stella Johnson.
The Sky returned to play for the shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy on July 26. Their first game was a rematch against the Las Vegas Aces, the team who had beaten them in the previous year's layoffs. Despite the Aces leading for most of the game, the Sky won 88-86.

Game log

Regular season

Standings

External Links