Was the 2025 Sky season a step forward or back?

Was the 2025 Sky roster an upgrade over 2024?

The prevailing narrative coming into the season was that it was. They’d had a season of experimentation and youth and were getting serious by adding veterans and shooters around their sophomore pillars, Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese.

League experts bought it: preseason rankings had the Sky finishing as high as sixth place.

Instead the 2025 Sky actually got worse, dropping to the bottom of the standings.

So what happened? Were expectations too high, or did the team blow it?

In the Sky’s telling, this team was well on their way to fulfilling expectations, before getting derailed by injuries, and underachieving with the group they had left.

It’s true that some of their offseason acquisitions underproduced (Rebecca Allen stands out in that category) and their best players all missed significant time.

As Aces coach Becky Hammon put it in defense of her mentee, Sky coach Tyler Marsh: “I don’t care how good a coach you are, you need your best players on the floor.”

Hammon’s right that in the Year of the Injury, nearly every team struggled without their best player. But the Sky didn’t just struggle: they lost 34 games, five of them by 30 points or more. Even when they were fully healthy, they went 2-4 — the same win percentage as the 2024 Sky.

If you couldn’t tell already: it’s not clear to this reporter that the 2025 roster was actually a major upgrade.

Sure, they added Courtney Vandersloot, Ariel Atkins, and Rachel Banham, who brought championship experience, veteran wisdom, and shooting.

But they lost Chennedy Carter, Marina Mabrey and Dana Evans, which meant they lost athleticism, scoring, and a certain youthful edge.

Which group would you take in a game of 3-on-3?

A lively debate could follow. What’s not debatable, though, is that Carter’s departure left a massive hole. She was not only the Sky’s best player, at the peak of her powers she was basically unguardable.

That was one noticeable difference this season: everyone on the 2025 team was, for the most part, guardable.

But Carter’s departure didn’t just mean less dynamism, it meant losing their budding identity. At least on the court, the 2024 team was defined by Carter’s razzle dazzle — and the bond between her, Reese, and former coach Teresa Weatherspoon.

Behind the scenes, though, the locker room was reportedly a mess. Weatherspoon was fired after one season and Carter did not receive a returning offer.

This season, the team’s identity issues reversed. While Marsh insisted the locker room was selfless, resilient, and tough, a clear identity never really surfaced on the court.

Which isn’t to say that it won’t in the future. Vandersloot returning from injury should help connect the dots, and nearly every veteran will be available in the offseason for the front office to woo.

Why should fans hope the front office selects better this time around?

Well, for one: the 2025 backcourt pivot was not 100% voluntary. Both Mabrey and Evans asked to be traded, and Carter apparently caused enough issues that no team was willing to take a chance on her 17.5 points per game.

A generous reading then, is that the perimeter downgrade was a reaction to circumstance, not proof of what’s to come.

Meanwhile, their post game took a huge step forward. For a stretch before the All-Star break, Reese looked on her way to becoming unguardable, and after the break, Cardoso started coming into her own.

This alone should give Sky fans solace: for all the fumbling that may happen around them, their young stars will probably get better every year until their contracts expire (2027).