Sky make intriguing draft pick trades with Fire, Tempo

The Chicago Sky have reached agreements with expansion teams Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo ahead of Friday’s Expansion Draft, the team announced Wednesday.

Chicago agreed to swap its No. 17 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft for Portland’s No. 21 selection. In a separate deal, the Sky sent the No. 26 overall pick, originally acquired from the New York Liberty, to Toronto. In return, both expansion teams committed to not selecting any players from Chicago’s unprotected list in the expansion draft.

As a result of these agreements, the Sky will not lose any players during the expansion process. The team now holds three selections in the April 13 WNBA Draft: No. 5 overall in the first round, No. 21 in the second round, and No. 32 in the third round.

The trades make it clear that Chicago wants to keep its current core. WNBA rules allow teams to protect only five players, forcing difficult decisions among a group that included Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso, Ariel Atkins, Ajsa Sivka, Hailey Van Lith, Maddy Westbeld, Aicha Coulibaly, and Sevgi Uzun. The moves ensure the Sky will not only retain mainstays, under-contract players Cardoso, Reese, Van Lith, and Westbeld, but also maintain rights to Sivka and pursue Atkins in free agency.

Unrestricted free agents such as Courtney Vandersloot, Elizabeth Williams, Rachel Banham, Rebecca Allen, and Michaela Onyenwere were part of the available pool, but the Tempo and Fire were unlikely to select them.

The expansion draft will feature two rounds, with both Portland and Toronto allowed a maximum of one selection per team. The Tempo opted for the No. 6 overall pick in the draft; therefore, the Fire will pick first, and the process will follow a snake format with up to six selections per team.