TRADE: Sky Reportedly Land All-Star Ariel Atkins in Exchange for No. 3 Pick ...Middle East

The Chicago Sky have found an All-Star guard for Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso.

According to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou and Kendra Andrews, the Sky have made a move for Ariel Atkins of the Washington Mystics. The organization will pay a hefty price for the two-time All-Star, sending the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, as well as a 2027 first-round pick swap and a 2027 second-round pick.

Atkins spent her first seven seasons in the league with the Mystics, averaging 13.4 points, 2.4 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game. The 28-year-old was a pivotal piece to the Mystics 2019 championship team and has made an All-WNBA Defensive Team five times (one First Team honor and four second-team honors). She also won a gold medal with Team USA in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, as well as in 2022 in the World Cup.

Breaking: 2x-time All-Star guard Ariel Atkins has been traded from the Washington Mystics to the Chicago Sky in exchange for the 2025 No. 3 overall pick, sources told me and @kendra__andrews SundayThe move kickstarts a rebuild for D.C. and marks a huge get for the surging Sky pic.twitter.com/qApTpdEmHe

Sky Trade for Veteran All-Star

While it’s never an easy decision to move on from a Top 3 pick, reports have suggested for months that the Sky were willing to trade the selection for the right piece. And Atkins sure feels like she can be that piece.

The veteran will provide a much-needed level of scoring and versatility in the backcourt. Atkins may not be the highest-level facilitator, but she offers a three-level scoring ability that Chicago has lacked since moving on from Kahleah Copper and Marina Mabrey. She has shot 36.2 percent from long range over her career on approximately 5.0 attempts per game and finished the 2024 season with the 11th-most made threes in the league. The Sky made the fewest threes in the WNBA last season by a pretty wide margin. New head Tyler Marsh made clear that shooting would be a priority for his team moving forward in his introductory press conference.

Atkins finished as the league’s 16th-highest scorer last season, which should be music to the ears of a Sky team that averaged the second-fewest points per game last year. But that isn’t the only end of the court where she should have a significant impact. Any team built around Angel Reese will prioritize defense, and Atkins could help turn this Sky team into an elite squad in that department. She has finished Top 14 in total steals in five of her last six seasons and Top 10 in four of those seasons. Combine her perimeter defense with the rim protection capabilities of Reese and a seven-foot Cardoso, and the Sky are prime to be an intimidating matchup for almost any team.

With all that said, there is no denying the Sky are taking a risk in forking over the No. 3 pick in the draft. Their thought process is likely that both Paige Bueckers and Olivia Mills will be off the board, who are safely viewed as the best guards in this class. Most mock drafts have a slew of forwards as the best assets after that, and we all know the Sky are set in that department right now. Still, whether it be Sonia Citron, Te-Hine Popa, or Shyanne Sellers, a case could be made that going after one of these guards would make more sense with the Sky’s rebuilding roster.

I can see some fans having concerns about the Sky pushing their chips in a little too fast. And I can’t deny they have seemed a little too eager to return to the postseason, especially after drafting two potential studs. However, as long as the Sky promptly re-sign Atkins (who is a free agent in 2026), I think she can still prove to be a valuable piece to build with moving forward. Rarely is it a bad thing to add an All-Star and All-WNBA-caliber defender in her prime.

Atkins will join Courtney Vandersloot and Kia Nurse as the Sky’s offseason additions.

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