He used the words ‘‘put a plan together,’’ ‘‘we needed to improve dramatically’’ and ‘‘we wanted a new identity,’’ all damn near in the same sentence. Letting the world — or the very chosen few who cared to listen or cared at all — know that this new was going to be different from the last new.
And the other new he inherited when he got here.
Sky general manager Jeff Pagliocca also went on to say, in this first week of the post-Angel Reese life of the team he blew up (for the second time in his three-year tenure), only to piece back together again: ‘‘We landed our targets.’’
Dope. Now the target — mainly because of their trade of Reese — is openly on them.
Finally the talking points, corporate-speak and daily media-generated filibustering have come to an end. The here is now. And this iteration of this new version — and ‘‘new-look,’’ as some have poured into calling them — of the Sky in unrivaled theory has stepped forth with hope that we believe their sale of ‘‘things will no longer be the same.’’
It’s a hard sell, one many of the franchises in Chicago have been gaslighting their fans — both sustained and lost — with to lure us into their pretense that way more often than not turns out to be false. But with those others, their new has been incremental, a slow burn to resurrection. The Sky? This is GLP-1 on Ozempic.
Getting ‘‘All Gas’’ Gabriela Jaquez with the No. 5 overall pick; getting Azura Stevens back; getting Skylar Diggins and Rickea Jackson; getting Ajsa Sivka (the No.10 overall pick last year who decided to stay and finish high school and further develop in the Spanish league) to come to America to hoop; getting ‘‘Sloot’’ (the great Courtney Vandersloot) back after she missed practically the whole season last season because of her ACL tear — nothing’s
going to be the same. Which is the problem.
Problem being, if things are going to be the same for the other teams — specifically in the Eastern Conference — the Sky have to ascend above just being new and different for all of the changes made to make sense. Because even as things aren’t at all the same here but remain primarily the same everywhere else, the Sky still have . . . problems.
The Dream, 16 games above .500 last season, one of only three teams last season to win 30 games before losing to the Fever (without Caitlin Clark) in a final Game 3 by two points, added Reese to their bona fides. Their same — for the most part, even without adding
Angel — is better than the Sky’s better.
The Liberty, champs two seasons ago, finished 10 games above .500 last season and by adding Satou Sabally became the possible front-runners with the Aces to own the 2026 chip. Their same and better is better than the Sky’s better.
The Mystics, who finished six games better than the Sky in the regular season last season and just added three major first-round rookies, including Lauren Betts and Cotie McMahon, along with Rori Harmon in the second round of the draft to go with the two rookies they drafted last season (Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron), both of whom were named All-Stars, yeah, their better is more of an upgrade than the Sky’s better.
Anoint the Fever being conference finalists last season. Again, mostly without CC22 on the floor. Simply look at the top of their rotation, then look at the Sky’s new one. The Fever’s same — especially with the return of a healthy CC22 — is arguably better than the Sky’s better. With proof that they can win together.
And depending on what happens with the Sun — who, by the way, finished last season one game ahead of the Sky — in their final season in Connecticut, the Sky are still looking on paper and screen at being on the low end (fifth or sixth place) in a seven-team conference race to finish better than they have three seasons and counting.
Mountains.
Recently, someone outside of Chicago made a claim: ‘‘The worst GM in all of sports, his name is Jeff Pagliocca, and he’s the Chicago Sky GM’’ is what DC radio host Chuck Montiano claimed on KFPA 94.1FM’s ‘‘The Collision.’’ Hard to accept when, in the same city, during the same time, we’ve had AKME (Bulls), Kyle Davidson (Blackhawks) and Chris Getz (White Sox).
But it verifies there’s a target even outside of Chi on Pagliocca and the Sky franchise to outperform their new presentation of new. To imitate what the Bears did last season (without stealing the wonderkid head coach from every other team in the league; without the QB prodigy) with prayers that two or three teams above them do what the Lions and Vikings did: fall.
Then hope the new ‘‘new’’ lasts.