There would be a time when Angel Reese would look back on the 2025 WNBA season and recollect how it changed the trajectory of her basketball career going forward. Now that the said time is still far away from sight, the Chicago Sky had all the time in the world to avoid what the future holds for the franchise.
The coaching staff, as well as the team management, know very well that if things are not addressed beforehand, Reese’s trade rumors that ignited after her exit interview drama could soon come to reality. And just recently, assistant coach Shimmy Gray-Miller aired a warning for the team before it’s too late.
Coach Shimmy Gray-Miller Gives Chicago Sky Reality Check On Angel Reese Situation
When Reese sat for the Chicago Tribune interview, she had little idea about how her words would age. The Chi-Town Barbie lit a fuse under the Sky’s already shaky foundation, as she openly questioned the front office’s roster moves and floated the idea of a fresh start elsewhere.
However, after about a month, the very same question is still burning and the flames had gone a little low, but not died to smoke. Recently, Sky assistant coach Gray-Miller gave a wakeup call to the Chicago management and elaborated that they would lose more than just a 6 ft 3 left-hander.
“If you lose Angel, how much of that do you lose? And who can you bring in in this league that’s going to generate the type of excitement, the type of revenue, the type of energy that Angel has brought the last two years? So, if you lose Angel, then you better get your money’s worth,” Shimmy said via Marca.
Don’t forget, Angel was voted “the steal of the draft” by WNBA GMs in her class.
— Swift (@Goodfella_100) October 4, 2025
You’re crazy as hell if you think teams won’t be lined up at the Sky’s door the second they hear, “Angel Reese has requested a trade.” The Sky sure aren’t going to initiate it themselves. pic.twitter.com/iyFuARxO1y
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“Better get a great point guard, a dynamic scorer, maybe even a stretch four. You’ve got to get something for that because not just of what you’re losing with her on the court, her leadership, her IQ, her ability to defend, her impact on the glass, you’re going to lose that, but because of all the other stuff that you lose when Angel walks,” she added.
The Sky’s general manager, Jeff Pagliocca, however, doubled down on Reese’s importance in late September, insisting no trade talks were afoot and praising her daily chats with the front office. Still, the damage from a botched 2025 draft, trading the No. 3 pick for Ariel Atkins, who underperformed amid the team’s slide, lingered, adding up calls for change.
Lisa Leslie Had Words On Angel Reese Trade Speculations
Recently, WNBA icon Lisa Leslie cut through the noise on The Good Follow podcast, voicing a poignant “wish” for Reese amid swirling trade talk. According to her, the Sky should add more veteran guidance to ease her turbulent tenure at the Sky.
“I don’t know that she necessarily had the veteran leadership that she should have had coming into the WNBA. I wish that for her. You think about the top teams, like a Minnesota, and you think about Napheesa Collier having someone like [Sylvia Fowles]. To have a veteran that’s like, ‘Hey, this is how we do, this is how we work.’ She didn’t have that, and she still hasn’t had that,” Leslie said.
She lamented how the Sky thrust Reese into the spotlight without that buffer, robbing her of a true rookie grace period and stunting growth in a league where “your introduction really hasn’t been what most rookies have.”