Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Courtney Vandersloot returned to the Chicago Sky after tearing her ACL last June, but her presence hasn't turned the team's season around.
- The Sky already have multiple point guards, and Vandersloot's age and recent injury raise questions about her effectiveness and stamina.
- Chicago remains in 13th place, needing help at wing positions that Vandersloot cannot provide, meaning the team's struggles are likely to continue.
The Chicago Sky have arguably the most important player in franchise history, Courtney Vandersloot, back after she tore her ACL last June. Vandersloot's return begs the question: is she the missing piece for the Sky?
It's been a difficult season for a team that entered 2026 with playoff aspirations, and a season-ending injury to Rickea Jackson really sent the team into a downward spiral. But, maybe Vandersloot's return will be the thing that saves the Sky's season?
Courtney Vandersloot isn't saving the Chicago Sky
Well, no. No, Vandersloot's return won't be the thing that turns the Sky around, for a number of reasons.
First is that she plays point guard on a roster that already had Skylar Diggins, Natasha Cloud and Jacy Sheldon battling for ball-handler minutes. It's a "too many chefs" situation here. Adding another player who is at her best on the ball just complicates things at the position where Chicago didn't really need help. When DiJonai Carrington returns to help with the issue on the wing? Sure, that can help the Sky get a few more wins, but the only way Vandersloot's return helps from a positional perspective would be if it prompts the Sky to trade Sheldon for a wing.
So, there's that: adding to a spot where you're already doing okay has diminishing returns. Like, it'd sound cool to have a lineup featuring Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Kelsey Mitchell, Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray, but you'd get killed inside trying to play those five together. Same general concept here.
Additionally, there's an arguably bigger concern: Vandersloot might not be that good anymore.
I mean, look at it this way: she's a 37-year-old player coming off a serious knee injury whose last full season in 2024 saw her numbers take a major dip. Yes, her first two games since returning this season have been solid — 7.5 points and 7.5 assists per game on 50 percent shooting — but we're going off a very small sample here. And while she's shooting 50 percent, that because she went 4-for-4 against a really bad Portland defense, then 0-for-4 against a much better Vegas defense.
Look: Vandersloot is still Vandersloot, in the sense that she has the best vision we've maybe ever seen in women's basketball. She understands how to run an offense and how to find the open shooters. However, does she have the athleticism and stamina to play more than 15-ish minutes per game at this point? And if you put her in at the expense of Sheldon minutes, does that help the offense more than it hurts the defense?
And even if Vandersloot has a throwback-type season, it won't be enough. Chicago is 13th in the league standings, and the team is bad in ways that Vandersloot won't help, like a rebounding rate that's 13th in the league or an opponent rebounding rate that's also 13th. What this team needs is help at the three and four, which isn't what Vandersloot brings. This long season is just going to continue getting longer.
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