The Chicago Sky selected Hailey Van Lith with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, hoping she could be their point guard of the future. Let's just say she looks the part already.
This pass is one most often seen from seasoned veterans. Van Lith drove to the basket, drew a second defender and fired a cross-court strike to an open Rebecca Allen, who promptly drilled a 3-pointer.
This kind of guard play is a big ingredient that the Sky were missing last season, and that Van Lith can provide at a very high level for years to come.
Hailey Van Lith can be the guard the Sky have been missing
The Sky ranked second-to-last in the WNBA in scoring (77.4 points per game) and field goal percentage (42.2 percent) last season. A big reason for that is because they were also second-to-last in assists per game (19.0). Marina Mabrey led the team with 4.5 assists per game on the season.
While Mabrey's assist numbers weren't horrible, Van Lith averaged 5.4 assists per game last season with the TCU Horned Frogs. She's a step up from what the Sky have had at the point guard position.
Van Lith showed in just one practice that she can create an open shot for teammates out of nothing. That's huge for a player like Angel Reese, who doesn't really do much creating with the ball in her hands but often finds herself in the paint in a position to score. Van Lith can create opportunities for her, as well as Chicago's outside shooters, that these players just didn't have last season.
Chances are, as is the case with any rookie, there will be growing pains with Van Lith this upcoming season. It'll take a lot of improvement for the Sky to go from being outside of the playoff picture to a legitimate force, but Van Lith's presence should help elevate this offense exponentially, which will be fun for Sky fans to watch.