LAS VEGAS — It appears guard Dana Evans’ time in Chicago is coming to an end. Unless the Sky can find a remedy for her disappearing minutes, that is.
Since former coach/general manager James Wade traded for Evans in 2021, she had been waiting to take on an expanded role with the franchise she grew up watching. A native of Gary, Indiana, Evans often would attend Sky games with her father, closely following point guard Courtney Vandersloot, whom she one day would get an opportunity to learn from.
When Vandersloot left in free agency in 2023, it appeared Evans’ time to prove herself capable of a starting role had come — until Wade traded for guard Marina Mabrey and signed guard Courtney Williams as a free agent.
This season, no one stood in Evans’ way on the depth chart. But after 12 games as the Sky’s starting point guard, she was relegated to the bench. There are a number of questions about why it happened, the most glaring being the slow decline in her minutes despite her production before the demotion.
Evans went from averaging nearly 30 minutes as a starter to 13.8 coming off the bench. More concerning, however, is that she has played fewer than 10 minutes in five of the 11 games since being moved to the bench.
So the question is, does Evans see a future in Chicago?
‘‘I did,’’ Evans told the Sun-Times before the Sky’s game Tuesday against the Aces. ‘‘I really did see that being a possibility. I felt like this was a time for me to really take my game to the next level in Chicago. But now I don’t think that’s what they see.’’
In the game, the Sky opened a 21-point lead late in the second quarter before a 16-2 run by the Aces erased most of it. The Aces then tied the score at 69 early in the fourth quarter.
From there, it came down to which team’s best player — the Aces’ A’ja Wilson or the Sky’s Chennedy Carter — was going to outplay the other. Carter won the battle, finishing with 34 points to Wilson’s 28. Evans had two points and three assists in 13 minutes.
Coach Teresa Weatherspoon said emphatically that she sees Evans being in a Sky uniform for the long term, but he role she has Evans playing right now doesn’t align with that belief.
Weatherspoon opted to insert guard Lindsay Allen into the starting five, favoring her pass-first style, which has aided the Sky. She was averaging 5.6 points and 4.5 assists before the game against the Aces.
In Evans’ 12 games as a starter, she averaged 10.3 points and 3.8 assists as the Sky went 4-8. The Sky were 5-6 entering play Tuesday since Allen became their starting point guard. But that is not necessarily an indication of Evans performing poorly but rather a reflection of Carter’s increased role.
When Evans first was moved into a backup role, the explanation Weatherspoon and general manager Jeff Pagliocca gave her was that they wanted her to score more. She said Tuesday it didn’t make sense at the time, but she told herself: ‘‘Chin up, I’m going to do what I have to do.’’
After her minutes began to decrease from 15 to 20 to five to 10 per game, she said she had to determine whether the Sky wanted her.
‘‘There’s still a lot of questions that are kind of unanswered for me,’’ Evans said. ‘‘But I’m going to be a professional and do my job. When my number is called, I’ll be ready.’’
Evans is confident she can succeed as a scoring point guard. She specifically mentioned Storm guard Skylar Diggins-Smith as an example of how to be both a facilitator and a scorer.
At this point, Weatherspoon will decide whether Evans will find that success in a Sky uniform. A little more than halfway through the season, she has shown more confidence in Allen’s pass-first style.
Evans is beloved by the Sky’s fan base, a product of growing up close to the city and her style of play. But she was adamant that despite her love for Chicago, she needs to be with a team that will offer her the best opportunity to continue developing.
Right now, it doesn’t seem as though the Sky is that team.
