Chicago Sky plan to reconstruct roster around Kahleah Copper after key losses: ‘We’re going to be good,’ James Wade says

Free agency did not go as planned for the Chicago Sky — and the front office will be the first to admit that.

“We’re disappointed that a couple of our players didn’t come back,” principal owner Michael Alter said. “We certainly hoped that they would.”

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The team’s four foundational players — Candace Parker, Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley and Azurá Stevens — left the team, with three signing elsewhere and Quigley sitting out the season. But as Sky enter a season of roster reconstruction — their second under coach and general manager James Wade — they are confident in their ability to recalibrate despite the unexpected losses.

“I don’t like the word ‘rebuild’ because it means a lot of things to different people,” Alter said. “We are going to have six or seven new players, so it’s certainly going to be different, there’s going to be a lot of new faces. But our intention is to compete and make this a championship team again.”

Player discussions surrounding resources, facilities and other issues of financial support have highlighted the WNBA offseason. But Alter said the free agents who left did not express a connecting theme as to why they did so.

Alter said he didn’t hear “any player” speak about improvements to facilities or resources as an issue in returning to Chicago. Wade concurred: “It’s never been a topic of discussion.”

Said Alter: “Our players were very articulate explaining the reasons for their decisions. In each case, you have very different reasons. Candace was wanting to be close to the home. Courtney, having her whole career being here, felt that before she retires she needs to try something else. Everyone has their own story as to what was behind that.”

Outside of the four departing free agents, the Sky also could start the season without guard Julie Allemand and forward Emma Meesseman. The two are weighing whether to play in the WNBA this summer as they prepare for Belgium in the FIBA EuroBasket tournament, which takes place in June.

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Wade said the Sky understand the importance of the tournament — which doubles as Olympic qualifying — and said he has remained in contact with their agent throughout a “fluid and ongoing situation” that has been further complicated by recent injuries for both. In the meantime, the Sky must plan for a season without Allemand and Meesseman.

“We knew that going into this year, it was going to be iffy if they were going to be able to be there,” Wade said.

Losing six major players in an offseason is a major shake-up for any team. But the Sky are confident in their ability to build around two-time All-Star Kahleah Copper.

Copper, 28, has been with the Sky since 2017, quickly becoming an elite wing player. But in previous seasons, the Sky had to balance between Parker and Vandersloot as team leaders, leaving Copper as a rising star waiting for her moment.

That moment has come. Wade said he spoke consistently with Copper throughout free agency, weighing her input on player acquisitions to create a roster that she would want to helm — and one that would make her eager to stay when her contract expires after the season.

“We’ve had clear conversations about how we want to play and the things we want to do and what the future could look like with her leading us,” Wade said. “This is the opportunity for her to solidify herself in the upper echelon of players. We look forward to that.”

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The Sky signed some free agents to fill the gaps in the roster: shooting guard Courtney Williams, center Astou Ndour-Fall and forwards Isabelle Harrison and Elizabeth Williams. It’s a younger look for the Sky — the average age of the four outgoing free agents is 33.3 while the new group’s average is 28.5.

Although this was a less splashy free-agency period for the Sky, Wade expressed confidence in the Sky’s acquisitions based on their fit centered around Copper’s strengths. The Sky’s new identity will be fairly simple: “cause havoc.”

“Tough-nosed, grind-it-out basketball,” Wade said. “We’re more athletic than we’ve ever been. Defensively we can take a step upwards. We were a more offensively grounded team last year. Even though I think we will be a good offensive team this year, it’s going to start on the defensive end for us.”

Wade said he plans to add one more post player. The Sky additionally hold the fifth pick in the 2023 WNBA draft.

Wade acknowledged that reconstructing a roster will take time but emphasized the importance of constant growth for this season’s group — especially after last year’s franchise-record 26-win team stalled out in the playoffs.

“We won’t be the same team in September as we will be in May,” Wade said.

Entering his fifth season in Chicago, Wade is the last remaining general manager-coach in the WNBA. Teams throughout the league have begun to separate the roles, a trend hurried by the retirement of Mystics general manager Mike Thibault from coaching and the promotion of Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve from general manager to president of basketball operations. But Wade’s responsibilities won’t change anytime soon.

“I’ve always liked the idea of the GM and coach being combined because I want to have a coach and a GM who was held fully accountable for the outcome and the performance of our team,” Alter said. “We also have the advantage in our league — because it’s relatively small and our CBA at this point isn’t that complicated — where the GM job isn’t a deeply complicated financial job like it is in some other leagues.”

Wade shrugged off concerns about his dual role, pointing to his 2021 Coach of the Year Award and 2022 Executive of the Year Award as signs he can fulfill both. He noted Reeve as an example of an elite coach who also can excel at her front-office position as she assumes a higher workload and responsibility in her new position.

“It is something that has been done with success for a long time,” Wade said. “I don’t think that because you’ve had some situational changes that all of a sudden it doesn’t work. I know we follow a lot of hot topics … but I just don’t think it should be a topic of discussion because it really doesn’t affect us.”

Keeping Wade’s dual responsibilities underlines the confidence the front office has in Wade even amid a tumultuous offseason.

“I like that James is our guy,” Alter said. “He’s going to pick the players he wants, whether that’s through free agency, the draft, trades, whatever. It’s his decision. Live by that decision, die by that decision.”

With “superteams” forming in Las Vegas and New York around former Sky players, Alter and Wade acknowledged their newfound “underdog” status. It’s a a foreign feeling for a team that won a its first championship in 2021 and followed with the franchise-record win total.

But with one roster rebuild under his belt already, Wade is confident the Sky can regroup quickly.

“When you put expectations on a team, for me, then I feel like that can limit us,” Wade said. “The sky is the limit for the team we’re going to build, so I just don’t want to put any expectations on us. We’re going to be good. That’s what I can say.”