Vandersloot sidelined for now, but heavily invested in Sky rebuild

Courtney Vandersloot won't be ready to play when the Sky begins its season on May 9. She's still recovering from a knee injury suffered last June.

When speaking to reporters at the team's media day, it was clear she's heavily invested in the Sky's rebuild. In fact, Vandersloot, 37, sounded as much like an assistant general manager as veteran point guard.

“That was one of the reasons why I wanted to come back here is to rebuild this franchise, because I know there's something special here,” said Vandersloot, who spent the first 12 years of her WNBA career in Chicago, beginning in 2011. “I just had to get people onboard.”

Between trades and free agency, the Sky added 6-foot-6 center Azura Stevens, 6-2 forward Rickea Jackson, third-year point guard Jacy Sheldon and former defensive player of the year Dijonai Carrington, who is still recovering from a foot injury.

The highest-scoring addition is Skylar Diggins, a veteran guard two years younger than Vandersloot. At her introductory news conference last week, Diggins called Vandersloot a player she's looked up to.

“Skylar and I have been competing against each other for a really long time,” Vandersloot said. “We have discussed over the years playing together and now we're making it happen.”

Vandersloot refused to put a timetable on her return from knee surgery, but insisted she will “definitely” be on the court this season. For now, she's sitting back and watching how the new-look Sky comes together.

“On paper, it looks awesome, right?” Vandersloot said. “We've got some really good players, great competitors, great people. I think what was the most positive thing is people wanted to play for the Chicago Sky, and that was great for me and the front office to see that. We kind of got our (first) choices.

“If you look at it, I think it got put together really well. We've got playmaking, we've got size, we have shooting. We have the right returners, leadership, youth. All the mixes of what you think a perfect roster would look like.”

The Sky is five years removed from 2021, when Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, Kahleah Copper and Candace Parker led the team to its only WNBA title. Stevens was a reserve on that team, playing 20 minutes per game. Vandersloot piled on expectations for Stevens, now that she's back in Chicago after three years in Los Angeles.

“We need her to step up into a big role, a superstar role,” Vandersloot said. “She's getting a paycheck, so she's got to step into that and I've told her that, so that's what we're expecting. And I think she can do that. She has the skillset and we're going to put her in a position to be great.”

After Monday's second practice of training camp, coach Tyler Marsh spoke highly of another new addition, first-round pick Gabriela Jaquez. Coming off a championship run at UCLA, Jaquez is expected to bring 3-point shooting and a wide variety of skills.

“Again, the game is played between the lines, so we have a lot of work to do,” Vandersloot said. “From a training camp aspect, it looks really good. I'm really excited and happy about it.”