Coach/general manager James Wade buoyed the Sky’s hopes to win back-to-back WNBA titles by re-signing unrestricted free agent Allie Quigley to a one-year, $135,000 contract.
The three-time WNBA All-Star was the remaining unsigned piece of Wade’s starting five after having secured Kahleah Copper with an expected two-year deal and Courtney Vandersloot with a one-year, $195,000 contract. All three officially re-signed Thursday.
Wade’s goal from the outset of free agency was to re-sign his core: Vandersloot, Quigley and Copper. But there were some casualties along the way.
The Sky lost Stefanie Dolson to the New York Liberty and Diamond DeShields to the Phoenix Mercury.
Dolson signed a multiyear deal with the Liberty, and DeShields was part of a three-team sign-and-trade deal that brought Julie Allemand to the Sky from the Indiana Fever and gave Wade the Mercury’s first-round pick in 2023. Astou Ndour-Fall announced that she would sit out the 2022 season to rest. Despite those three losses, Wade’s other free-agency moves ensure the Sky will not skip a beat in 2022.
Emma Meesseman, the 2019 WNBA Finals MVP, agreed to terms with the Sky and will sign by the end of the week, ensuring the team will have another floor-spacing big to fill Dolson’s shoes. She joins Copper (2021) and Candace Parker (2016) as Sky players who have been named Finals MVP.
Quigley was considering retirement after the Sky’s championship run even though there was no drop-off in her play. The league’s reigning three-point champ went from a title season in which she averaged 13.2 points, 2.3 assists and 2.7 rebounds in 35 games to being UMMC Ekaterinburg’s second-leading scorer, averaging 15.6 points.
Wade said he doesn’t care about odds, but securing Vandersloot and Quigley undoubtedly makes the Sky heavy favorites to return to the WNBA Finals in 2022.
“The games have to be played,” Wade said. “My job as a GM is to put the best and most complementary team on the floor. That’s what we are working hard to do. We want a team that complements the window of where our players are in their careers. Hopefully, we’ve done that. Time will tell.”
