Pick and Roll: Reese, Cardoso headline bright future for Sky

Welcome back to Pick and Roll, powered by FanDuel. 

Join me and TSN.ca’s Brianne Spiker as we highlight everything you need to know about WNBA storylines as the season continues. 

Last week, we dove into the storylines and betting markets around Dearica Hamby and the Los Angeles Sparks. This week, Spiker and I are back to discuss Chicago Sky basketball.

If you missed last week, here’s how this will go. I’ll give you a few players and key betting markets to follow all summer. Spiker will jump in toward the end with a more overarching look at the team and organization, and then I’ll be at the bottom with a bet to consider.

The WNBA has been on fire all 2024 and this Sky team have been one reason why. While storylines around Angel Reese dominate the airspace, this team is fully engaged in a playoff battle as they look to return to the postseason after missing last year for the first time since 2018.

The Sky is the limit, so let’s reach for the stars. Here is Pick and Roll for the 2024 Chicago Sky.

PLAYER TO WATCH

Most weeks, I’ll leave the rookie talk for later, but this team's player to watch is rookie sensation Angel Reese.

Reese made history in early July when she broke Candace Parker’s WNBA record for most consecutive double-doubles at 12.

On Thursday, Reese extended the streak to 15 games, and Reese’s Rookie of The Year odds have been on the move the entire time.

FanDuel has a market on how long the streak will last. Here is a look at that market. 

Reese is +500 to be named Rookie of the Year, trailing only Caitlin Clark (-850) of the Indiana Fever in the betting odds.

Reese’s odds of being named ROY climbed as high as 40-1 earlier in the season when it looked like Los Angeles Sparks centre Cameron Brink was going to challenge Clark for the award.

But a season-ending injury to Brink and a historic stretch from Reese has seen her name re-enter the conversation.

Reese leads the league with her 11.8 rebounds per game and is second among rookies averaging 13.8 rebounds per game.

Speaking of rookies…

ROOKIE TO WATCH

The Sky had two picks inside the first seven in this year's draft. And if you didn’t know any better, you’d just assume Reese was taken with the higher pick.

But she wasn’t. The Sky took Reese seventh and used the third pick of the night on Kamilla Cardoso.

Cardoso started her college career with one season at Syracuse before transferring to powerhouse South Carolina.

Under head coach Dawn Staley, Cardoso won two national championships and broke out during her senior season.

Cardoso started 32 games in her three years at South Carolina, with all 32 coming as a senior when she averaged 14.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game.

A shoulder injury during the preseason would force Cardoso to miss the season's opening weeks. But since joining the Sky in late May, she has looked awesome.

She is just one of two rookies averaging over one block per game (Brink 2.3, Cardoso 1.2). And she is just one of 10 players this season averaging at least seven rebounds and one block per game.

Between her and Reese, it’s going to be really tough to score on this team in the coming years. The future for this Sky team looks very promising.

Betting Markets

The 9-13 Sky have a live win total of 15.5, with the over currently -154.

The -154 number represents an implied probability of 60.63.

The 16 wins needed to surpass this total would mean yet another season of finishing with a record of .500 or better for the Sky, something they have done in five straight seasons. 

While Chicago currently sits in the playoff spot, they remain longshots to win a championship this year at 120-to-1.

SPIKER’S TAKE

The Chicago Sky are in the tier where they aren't contenders but they aren't a lottery team. The quartet of Reese, Marina Mabrey, Cardoso and Chennedy Carter is not fun to play against because of their collective combination of skill, size and fire. The influence of rookie head coach Teresa Weatherspoon, a WNBA legend in her own right, has been palpable.

Carter has had a notoriously roller coaster start to her pro career but has seemingly found a home in Chicago and has been playing like many expected her to after being drafted fourth overall in 2020. As a guard, she plays with a ton of pace and with her ball-handling ability, she is hard to stop when she is rolling. After starting the season off the bench, Carter has played her way into a starting role and the Sky are better for it.

With Reese, she has carried her college stardom seamlessly to the WNBA, and the 22-year-old has already earned her place in the All-Star Game. Starting every game this season, Reese is averaging a double-double with 14 points per game and 11.9 rebounds. She has become the face of the Sky, a big role as the team has moved on from the likes of Kahleah Copper, Courtney Vandersloot and Candace Parker, the pillars that won the Sky their 2021 WNBA title.

The Sky are currently holding down the seventh spot in the WNBA standings and with how quickly they're growing as a team, a playoff berth by the end of the season is a very real prospect for them.

ONE BET TO CONSIDER

The future looks bright for the Sky, and so does 2024.

Between the impact of the rookies and a solid core around them, I don’t see this team finishing 2024 with a losing record.

Give me over 15.5 wins for Chicago.