2020 Chicago Sky season

The 2020 Chicago Sky season is the franchise's 15th season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). 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.

2020 Chicago Sky season
Coach	James Wade
Arena	Originally: Wintrust Arena Rescheduled to: IMG Academy gymnasiums, Bradenton, Florida
Attendance	None per game
Results
Record	6–4 (.600)
Place	1st (Eastern)
← 2019 season 2021 season →

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.[1] However, this plan was halted on April 3, when the WNBA postponed its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2][3] 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.[4][5] Under this plan, the Sky's first game will be July 26, versus the Las Vegas Aces.[6]

Transactions

WNBA Draft

The Sky will make the following selections in the 2020 WNBA Draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	8	Ruthy Hebard	United States	Oregon
3	30	Japreece Dean	United States	UCLA
3	32	Kiah Gillespie	United States	Florida State

Trades and Roster Changes

Date	Trade or Roster Change
February 12, 2020	Acquired a first round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft in exchange for C Astou Ndour[7]
February 13, 2020	Signed G Sydney Colson[8]
February 14, 2020	Acquired F Azurá Stevens in exchange for F Katie Lou Samuelson and a first round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft[9]
February 15, 2020	Re-Signed G Kahleah Copper[10]
February 17, 2020	Re-Signed F/C Stefanie Dolson[11]
February 19, 2020	Re-Signed G Allie Quigley[12]
February 25, 2020	Re-Signed G Courtney Vandersloot[13]
June 29, 2020	Signed G Stella Johnson[14]

Roster

Chicago Sky roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G 51 Colson, Sydney 5' 8" (1.73m) 140 lb (64kg) 08-06-1989 Texas A&M 6 G/F 2 Copper, Kahleah 6' 1" (1.85m) 155 lb (70kg) 08-28-1994 Rutgers 4 G 1 DeShields, Diamond 6' 1" (1.85m) 163 lb (74kg) 03-05-1995 Tennessee 2 C 31 Dolson, Stefanie 6' 5" (1.96m) 231 lb (105kg) 01-08-1992 Connecticut 6 F 24 Hebard, Ruthy 6' 4" (1.93m) 04-28-1998 Oregon R F 7 Lavender, Jantel 6' 4" (1.93m) 185 lb (84kg) 11-12-1988 Ohio State 9 F 32 Parker, Cheyenne 6' 4" (1.93m) 193 lb (88kg) 08-22-1992 Middle Tennessee 5 G 14 Quigley, Allie 5' 10" (1.78m) 140 lb (64kg) 06-20-1986 DePaul 11 F/C 30 Stevens, Azurá 6' 6" (1.98m) 180 lb (82kg) 02-01-1996 Connecticut 2 G 22 Vandersloot, Courtney 5' 8" (1.73m) 145 lb (66kg) 02-08-1989 Gonzaga 9 F 15 Williams, Gabby 5' 11" (1.8m) 172 lb (78kg) 09-09-1996 Connecticut 2	Head coach James Wade (Kennesaw State) Assistant coaches Olaf Lange Bridget Pettis Emre Vatansever Athletic trainer Meghan Lockerby Strength and conditioning coach Ann Crosby Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured   WNBA roster page
East ATL CHI CON IND NY WAS West DAL LV LA MIN PHO SEA

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.[7][8][9] Free agents Allie Quigley, Courtney Vandersloot, and Stefanie Dolson were all re-signed to multi-year deals.[11][12][13] 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.[15] 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.[16] 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.[17]

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.[18][19][20]

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,[21] and Sydney Colson missed the beginning of the season due to recovery from COVID-19.[22] Stefanie Dolson was also afflicted with COVID-19, but recovered before the start of the delayed season.[23] On June 29, the Sky signed guard Stella Johnson.[24]

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.[25][26] The Sky ended July with a 2–1 record. On August 1, they notched a narrow win against the Mystics, the last undefeated team in the league, and improved to 3–1.

Game log

Regular season

2020 game log Total: 6–4
July Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 July 26 Las Vegas Aces W 88-86 Copper (26) Williams (7) Vandersloot (11) IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 1–0 2 July 28 Los Angeles Sparks W 96-78 Copper / Stevens (21) Copper (9) Vandersloot (10) IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 2–0 3 July 30 Minnesota Lynx L 81-83 Parker / Stevens / Vandersloot (16) Stevens (11) DeShields (5) IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 2-1
August Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 4 August 1 Washington Mystics W 88–86 Copper / Williams (16) Williams (9) Vandersloot (8) IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 3-1 5 August 4 Dallas Wings W 82-79 Parker / Stevens / Quigley (15) Stevens (10) Vandersloot (10) IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 4–1 6 August 6 Phoenix Mercury L 86–96 Vandersloot (21) Parker (7) Vandersloot (8) IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 4–2 7 August 8 Connecticut Sun W 100–93 Quigley (22) Copper (7) Vandersloot (11) IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 5–2 8 August 10 Seattle Storm L 71–89 Quigley (13) Copper (6) Vandersloot (9) IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 5–3 9 August 12 Phoenix Mercury W 89–71 Quigley (20) Parker / Dolson (9) Vandersloot (5) IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 6–3 10 August 14 Connecticut Sun L 74–77 Parker (17) Stevens (8) Vandersloot (7) IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 6–4 11 August 16 Atlanta Dream IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 12 August 18 Las Vegas Aces IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 13 August 20 New York Liberty IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 14 August 22 Indiana Fever IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 15 August 25 New York Liberty IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 16 August 27 Indiana Fever IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 17 August 29 Seattle Storm IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance
September Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 18 September 2 Minnesota Lynx IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 19 September 4 Washington Mystics IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 20 September 6 Los Angeles Sparks IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 21 September 9 Atlanta Dream IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance 22 September 11 Dallas Wings IMG Academy No In-Person Attendance
2020 season schedule

Standings

#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Conf.
1	Seattle Storm	9	1	.900	–	4–0
2	Las Vegas Aces	8	2	.800	1	3–1
3	Los Angeles Sparks	7	3	.700	2	2–2
3	Minnesota Lynx	7	3	.700	2	0–3
5	Chicago Sky	6	4	.600	3	2–1
5	Phoenix Mercury	6	4	.600	3	2–2
7	Indiana Fever	4	6	.400	5	3–1
7	Connecticut Sun	4	6	.400	5	2–2
9	Washington Mystics	3	7	.300	6	2–3
9	Dallas Wings	3	7	.300	6	0–3
11	Atlanta Dream	2	8	.200	7	1–2
12	New York Liberty	1	9	.100	8	1–2

Notes

(#) - League Standing

y- Clinched conference

x- Clinched playoff berth

e - Eliminated from playoffs

Home and Away records not shown, as all games played at a neutral location.

Updated to include results from August 15, 2020

Source

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Courtney Vandersloot	Eastern Conference Player of the Week	August 10, 2020	[27]

References

1. "Atlanta Dream Announce 2020 Schedule - Atlanta Dream". dream.wnba.com. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
2. "05/15/20: Minnesota Lynx @ Chicago Sky". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
3. "WNBA Statement Regarding the Start of the 2020 Regular Season". 2020-04-03. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
4. "WNBA Announces Plan To Tip Off 2020 Season". WNBA. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
5. "WNBA announces plans for 2020 season to start late July in Florida". NBC Sports Washington. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
6. "2020 Chicago Sky Schedule". sky.wnba.com. Chicago Sky. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
7. "Chicago Sky Acquires First-Round Pick in 2021 WNBA Draft in Exchange for Astou Ndour". sky.wnba.com. WNBA. February 12, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
8. "Chicago Sky Sign Guard Sydney Colson". Chicago Sky. 2020-02-13. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
9. "Chicago Sky Acquire Azura Stevens, Trade Katie Lou Samuelson to Dallas Wings". sky.wnba.com. WNBA. February 14, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
10. "Kahleah Copper Returns to Chicago, Re-Signs With Sky". sky.wnba.com. WNBA. February 15, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
11. "Chicago Sky Re-Sign Two-Time WNBA All-Star Center Stefanie Dolson". Chicago Sky. February 17, 2020. Retrieved 2020-02-17.
12. "Chicago Sky Re-Sign Three-Time All-Star Allie Quigley". Chicago Sky. February 19, 2020. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
13. "Courtney Vandersloot Re-Signs With Chicago Sky". Chicago Sky. February 25, 2020. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
14. "Chicago Sky Sign Stella Johnson". sky.wnba.com. WNBA. June 29, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
15. Ellentuck, Matt (2020-02-24). "Grading every team in WNBA's chaotic 2020 offseason". SBNation.com. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
16. Ariail, Cat (2020-02-25). "With VanderQuigs returning, plus arrival of Azurá Stevens and Sydney Colson, is the Sky the limit for Chicago?". Swish Appeal. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
17. "WNBA Free Agency Grades [Part 1] » Winsidr". Winsidr. 2020-03-05. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
18. "WNBA draft grades: Wings, Lynx score highest marks". ESPN.com. 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
19. "2020 WNBA Draft Tracker: Complete results, grades as Sabrina Ionescu taken with No. 1 pick by New York Liberty". CBSSports.com. 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
20. Merchant, Sabreena (2020-04-17). "Instant grades for every 2020 WNBA Draft first-round pick". SBNation.com. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
21. "Sky's Lavender out for season after foot surgery". ESPN.com. 2020-07-01. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
22. Collier, Jamal (2020-07-16). "COVID-19 drained Sydney Colson's energy, taking away her ability to train for the Chicago Sky and limiting her work in the fight for racial justice". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
23. Hendricks, Maggie (2020-07-23). "Chicago's Stefanie Dolson details her experience recovering from coronavirus". The Athletic. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
24. "Chicago Sky Sign Stella Johnson". Chicago Sky. 2020-06-29. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
25. Associated Press (2020-07-26). "Sky rally late for 88-86 win over Aces in WNBA season opener". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
26. "Sky: Allie Quigley caps comeback win over rival Aces". NBC Sports Chicago. 2020-07-26. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
27. "Wilson, Vandersloot Earn Players Of The Week Honors For Week 2". WNBA.com. August 10, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2020.

External Links

• Official website of the Chicago Sky