Sky trading franchise star Kahleah Copper to Phoenix Mercury for players and draft assets
The Sky are trading 2021 Finals MVP Kahleah Copper to the Phoenix Mercury, multiple league sources confirmed to the Sun-Times Tuesday morning.
The trade package, sources told the Sun-Times, includes four draft picks: the No. 3 pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, two second-round picks in the 2025 draft, and the Mercury’s first-round pick in 2026. In addition, the Sky will receive forward Michaela Onyenwere and forward Brianna Turner.
Copper’s abrupt departure — four months after sitting next to Sky operating Chairman Nadia Rawlinson as she introduced new coach Teresa Weatherspoon — is another failure by ownership. When the team signed Copper to an extension at the end of the regular season, it was with the promise that the future of the franchise was headed in a better direction.
Six months after the conclusion of the 2023 season, the Sky appear directionless.
The practice facility ownership touted at the beginning of the 2023 season is still without a location or availability timeline. As a result, free agents like Skylar Diggins-Smith and Nneka Ogwumike — who both took meetings with the Sky — opted to sign elsewhere.
According to multiple league sources, the Sky still have a reputation for being in the bottom tier when it comes to player experience and investment. The same aspects that contributed to two-time MVP Elena Delle Donne, and before her Sylvia Fowles, demanding a trade.
When former Sky coach/GM James Wade failed to re-sign his entire championship starting lineup, the franchise balked at the idea they were facing a rebuild. Wade made a desperate trade, dealing the team’s entire arsenal of draft stock in a four-team trade for guard Marina Mabrey. He signed her to a three-year deal valued at $202,000 in year one, $208,000 in year two and $210,000 in year three despite her never having been named an All-Star.
Then, midseason, Wade decided he, too, had enough, and he accepted a job with the NBA’s Toronto Raptors.
In seven seasons with the Sky, Copper averaged 12 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists. It was in her final four seasons with Chicago that she took off, averaging 16.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and two assists and earning three consecutive All-Star nods from 2021-2023. During the Sky’s title run, Copper averaged 17.7 points and 5.9 rebounds en route to being named Finals MVP.
Despite the mass exodus of stars in 2023, the Sky had one remaining hope for their future — Copper. Her exit is an indication that Sky ownership has once again failed their franchise player.
