The Chicago Sky lacked one very important thing in 2024 — playmakers. Now with Hailey Van Lith — as well as the return of Sky legend Courtney Vandersloot — it appears that one of the team's biggest weakness might not be quite as much of a weakness now.
Van Lith made her WNBA preseason debut on May 2 in an exhibition game against the Brazilian WNT, coming off the bench to play 13 minutes. She finished with seven points and five assists.
Does Hailey Van Lith fix the playmaking issue in Chicago?
Last season, the Sky struggled to move the ball around, ranking 11th of 12 teams in assists per game at 19.0 as well as last in assisted shot rate at 63.9 percent. The team leader in assists per game was Marina Mabrey, who was traded a little past the halfway point of the season to Connecticut. Beyond that, Lindsay Allen averaged 3.9 assists and Chennedy Carter averaged 3.1. Neither player is on the current roster.
The team made an attempt to shore up this issue in free agency, reuniting with franchise legend Courtney Vandersloot. Arguably the best pass-first point guard in league history, Vanderslot has led the league in assists seven times.
However, she's also entering her age-36 season and just averaged 4.8 assists per game, her fewest since 2016. Vandersloot might be a stopgap to help improve the playmaking, but the Sky would have been making a mistake if she was the only major addition they made at point guard.
It's a good thing, then, that former Louisville, LSU and TCU star Hailey Van Lith was available when the Sky were on the clock during the WNBA Draft.
Van Lith enters the WNBA with questions about her game, including about her ability to be the primary initiator on a team. She took major strides in that area in her lone season at TCU, developing under the tutelage of Mark Campbell, a former assistant at Oregon where he coached Sabrina Ionescu.
In the first preseason game, Van Lith certainly looked the part, but time will tell if she actually can be the point guard of the future in Chicago.
One thing is clear, though. With Vandersloot and Van Lith in the backcourt, Chicago should be better than last in assisted shot rate this season. Moving on from Carter — a skilled player but who can be a little too ball-dominant at times — gives the Sky a more unselfish guard group, which should help improve the team's outlook in 2025.
That doesn't mean things will be as good as Chicago needs them to be, but early signs with Van Lith are encouraging heading into this new WNBA season. For now, she appears to be exactly what the Sky needed — another ball-handler who can spell Vandersloot and keep the offense moving.