The No. 3 draft decide within the 2025 WNBA draft will now not play for the Chicago Sky subsequent season. That’s as a result of the Sky have traded it for Washington Mystics star Ariel Atkins, ESPN’s Alexa Phillipou reported on Sunday. As a part of the commerce, the Mystics may also obtain a 2027 first-round decide swap and Chicago’s second-round decide in 2027.
For the Mystics, the choice to commerce away Atkins indicators a want to rebuild round a promising younger core headlined by Aaliyah Edwards. Atkins, who was the Mystics’ main scorer final season, leaves after spending the primary 7 years of her profession with the group. Washington will pair the 2025 No. 3 decide with final yr’s No. 6 decide. Edwards had a stable rookie season, however has seemingly elevated her sport to a different stage by enjoying in Unequalled, the brand new skilled girls’s 3-on-3 basketball league going down in Miami by March.
However for the Sky, the commerce appears to point a stage of urgency to win sooner relatively than later.
What Ariel Atkins brings to Chicago
Chicago now enters subsequent season with a revamped roster that options offseason acquisitions Courtney Vandersloot, Kia Nurse, Rebecca Allen, and Atkins, in addition to returning frontcourt standouts Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese.
Vandersloot is a veteran level guard who will virtually definitively elevate the play of Reese and Cardoso, whereas Allen is an skilled three-point shooter and stable defender who will assist area the ground in Chicago. Nurse, in the meantime, joins the group through free company after a yr with the Los Angeles Sparks, and holds profession averages of 9.3 factors and a couple of.5 rebounds.
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Picture by Kenny Giarla/NBAE through Getty Pictures
Atkins is a two-time All-Star, a former U.S. Olympian, and an elite two-way participant. Final yr, she averaged 14.9 factors per sport, capturing 42.7% from the sector and 35.7% from three.
She’s averaged double-figure factors in every of her 7 WNBA seasons. She’s additionally the primary participant in WNBA historical past who was named to an All-Defensive Staff in every of her first 5 seasons. Earlier this week, Unequalled introduced Atkins as their newest aid contract participant. Earlier than that, Atkins had been enjoying professionally for the Turkish membership Fenerbahce this winter.
At 28 years outdated, Atkins is amid her athletic prime and may assist elevate the Sky’s roster straight away, on each ends. The choice to surrender the No. 3 decide for her signifies Chicago desires to extend the probabilities of a successful season in 2025 and appears to observe a sample of buying veteran gamers that started when Vandersloot agreed to signal with the workforce final month.
Atkins will definitely enhance subsequent yr’s roster and supply a flexible scoring choice who may also defend. However, in buying her, the Sky gave up a promising decide in what was set as much as be a stacked draft class — a call that might show expensive in the long run.
