The Chicago Sky are already struggling, with the team sitting just 3-10 on the season. Now, the team is set to be without one of its best players for a bit.
While the EuroBasket departures get most of the attention, another major international tournament is set to begin soon: AmeriCup. While the United States is sending a team of college players down for it, allowing the top U.S.-based talent to stay in the WNBA, some other nations are sending WNBA players, including Brazil. Kamilla Cardoso is playing for the team in AmeriCup, which runs from June 28 to July 6. She will miss at least a handful of Sky games.
With Cardoso out, the Sky will need a handful of players to step up.
Angel Reese
No Cardoso means more reliance on Angel Reese as the team's source of frontcourt offense.
Reese's struggles to score consistently have been well documented. She's among the league's worst finishers, with her 39.0 percent shooting mark in the restricted area this season ranking 94th out of 97 qualifying players. For some added context on how bad her finishing is, she ranks second among all WNBA players in shots taken in the restricted area, but only 12th in shots made from there.
While Reese adds a lot of value with her rebounding and passing skills, she's going to have to improve her finishing in a hurry with Cardoso out. While Cardoso isn't the most efficient player inside either her 61.0 percent mark in the restricted area is a big improvement over Reese, and she ranks fourth in both field goal attempts and makes in that part of the court.
Elizabeth Williams
Expect to see a lot of veteran Elizabeth Williams at the five while Cardoso is at AmeriCup.
The long-time WNBA player started 2024 as a starter for the Sky, but a torn meniscus ended her season after nine games. This year, she's come off the bench for the Sky and has been solid, especially in the non-restricted area part of the paint, where she's shooting 51.5 percent, 13th best of 84 qualifying players.
She'll need to maintain that efficiency in a scaled-up role, something that's far from a guarantee at this point in her career.
It'll also be interesting to see how she does defensively in expanded minutes. Williams ranked fifth in steal rate and fifth in block rate last season. Her post-injury defensive numbers aren't quite as good, but she's still an asset on that end in limited minutes. Can she keep that up with additional stress on her?
Rebecca Allen
Rebecca Allen has experience playing as a stretch four, but her current production in 2025 needs to improve for her to work in that role while Cardoso is out.
Allen, who has started six games at small forward for the Sky, is averaging just 5.8 points per game on 35.8 percent shooting. She's knocking down just 27.9 percent of her 3-point attempts, on track to be her worst season from deep since 2018.
The Australian forward has struggled more than usual on the defensive end as well, but the lack of frontcourt depth means Chicago will be forced to rely on her. Can we get a bounce-back stretch from Allen here?
Michaela Onyenwere
Former WNBA Rookie of the Year Michaela Onyenwere hasn't played a ton this season, but expect to see her getting more minutes as the backup four now that Cardoso is away. Chicago will likely be forced to go smaller than normal without Cardoso, using Onyenwere in the frontcourt beside either Reese or Williams for extended stretches.
After starting 18 games last season, Onyenwere has been buried in the 2025 rotation, playing just 12.7 minutes per game. She's struggled to shoot the ball, but her 36.8 percent mark from deep last season suggests there's some upside there.
For Onyenwere to work at the four, though, she's got to force defenses to account for her. She does no good as a stretch four if the defense can just ignore her on the perimeter and send a double on Reese, the Sky will be in big trouble.
But without Cardoso on the floor, the team has to do something. Maddy Westbeld hasn't proven yet that she belongs on a WNBA floor, so heavy doses of Allen and Onyenwere will be one of the answers for the Sky.