When the Sky drafted Katie Lou Samuelson with the fourth overall pick in April, coach and general manager James Wade wasn’t necessarily looking for her to make an impact this season. Instead, he was looking for a “long-term solution” to a future problem.
But only guard Allie Quigley knows when that solution will be needed.
At 33, Quigley, the oldest player on the Sky, has shown few signs of slowing down. She’s still one of the best perimeter shooters in the league and has made a league-high 76 three-pointers this season. She’s also averaging 14 points, second only to Diamond DeShields on the Sky.
But Quigley’s future in the WNBA is unclear. Her contract expires after this season, and though she plans to play in Russia for Wade with her wife, Courtney Vandersloot, Quigley wasn’t ready to say if she’ll be back next season.
“I’m just going year-by-year and get through this Russian season and then I’ll evaluate halfway through [that] season,” Quigley said Friday before the Sky’s 109-104 overtime victory against the Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Obviously, Wade doesn’t want to play without Quigley. But as GM, it’s his job to prepare for the Sky’s future.
So in this year’s draft, he asked himself: Which player would allow the Sky to play the way they want to without Quigley?
Samuelson was the answer in his eyes, though, Wade knew Rookie of the Year candidates Arike Ogunbowale and Napheesa Collier — who were picked fifth and sixth, respectively — likely would earn more minutes than her this season.
Wade liked Samuelson because she reminded him of Quigley by the way she opens the floor and can shoot around the perimeter.
“I’m not saying she’s going to be exactly like Quigley, but she allows us to play like that going forward,” Wade said. “So instead of having Quigley for the next five years . . . we get to have that same style of play for the next 10 years.”
Samuelson has been eager to contribute. She was expected to play more when forward Astou Ndour played in the EuroBasket Tournament this summer, but shortly after she left, Samuelson broke her wrist and missed 11 games.
Against the Sun, Samuelson played only 2:18 with no points.
While Samuelson has spent the majority of this season cheering on her teammates from the bench, Ogunbowale and Collier have been making a name for themselves. As the Sky prepare for their first postseason since 2016, it’s hard not to wonder how different this season would’ve been if the Sky picked either of those players.
Wade doesn’t think like that and is confident in Samuelson’s future.
“She’s going to be a staple of how we want to play for a long time, and she allows us to do that for whenever Quigley slows down or whenever she’s ready to pass the torch,” he said.
Samuelson’s time will come soon enough. She just has to remain patient.
“I’m a positive person,” Samuelson said. “Things can always be worse. . . . I’m just waiting for those moments and going to try to continue to help whenever I get a shot.”
Note: The Sky collectively contributed $5,100 to Sun forward Jonquel Jones’ #HelpMyBahamas fund. Jones created the GoFundMe campaign after a Category 5 Hurricane Dorian hit her native Bahamas. Before the Sky’s contributions, Jones, who herself donated $10,000, had raised more than $32,500 in three days.