The Chicago Sky wanted to improve its chances of selecting Angel Reese, so it agreed to a trade with the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday to move up one spot in Monday’s WNBA draft. The price was steep, but general manager Jeff Pagliocca was willing to pay it.
“We got the one that we were looking for,” he said.
Now the former LSU star will start her WNBA career with the Sky, the same franchise that drafted LSU great Sylvia Fowles in 2008 and hired Louisiana Tech legend Teresa Weatherspoon as its head coach in October.
The Sky also had the No. 3 overall pick, which it used to draft Kamilla Cardoso, the former South Carolina center who became rivals with Reese during their final collegiate seasons.
To move up from No. 8 to No. 7 to pair the two dominant post players, the Sky agreed to not only swap 2026 first-round picks with the Lynx but also send them a 2025 second-round selection and forward Sika Kone.
The move positioned the team to land Reese, the fifth post player drafted Monday.
“(Reese) is an absolutely relentless competitor,” Pagliocca said. “She pursues the ball better than anybody I've ever seen. She is a winner.”
The last time Reese and Cardoso crossed paths was the 2024 Southeastern Conference title game. The two battled in the post, scratching, clawing and jawing through an intense, high-stakes contest between rivals.
Pagliocca said that he and Weatherspoon watched the game. They imagined that what they saw from Reese and Cardoso — their aggression, physicality and intensity — would jibe with the identity that Weatherspoon wants the Sky to forge during her first season in charge.
“You don't want players that are going to compete against each other and take it easy, you know?” Pagliocca said. “So, we saw them going at each other. They're excited to play with each other. They’re excited to play in Chicago for coach Spoon, and that’s all we need to know.”
“Nobody is going to get no rebounds on us,” Cardoso said with a laugh while discussing the pairing with Reese.
To earn roles with the rebuilding Sky, Reese and Cardoso first must compete with 6-foot-3 forwards Elizabeth Williams and Brianna Turner. Williams, a nine-year veteran, started all 40 games in the Sky frontcourt in 2023. Turner, a former Phoenix Mercury forward, has started 134 games over her five-year career.
If the pair can carve out meaningful roles in Weatherspoon’s rotation, then they’ll soon find themselves in marquee matchups with the Indiana Fever, who drafted Caitlin Clark No. 1 overall Monday to pair with former South Carolina forward Aliyah Boston.
The two teams will clash on June 1, June 16, June 23 and Aug. 30 in the WNBA regular season, which begins May 14.
“I actually talked to (Cardoso) earlier,” Reese said, “was congratulating her. I know she came off an amazing run, an amazing college career. I'm looking forward to playing with her in practice and in games, just bouncing off of each other. So, I'm excited for this.”