After having a slow start to free agency, the Sky got down to business Thursday.
Three key pieces to last season’s success are coming back for another run in 2020, along with a new dynamic backup point guard.
Allie Quigley, Courtney Vandersloot and Stefanie Dolson agreed to re-sign with the Sky, a source told the Sun-Times. All three deals are expected to be announced in the next few days.
The Sky also announced they signed former Aces guard Sydney Colson.
Bringing back Quigley and Vandersloot was the Sky’s main priority this offseason.
At the same time, it comes as little surprise that the backcourt duo decided to return. Quigley and Vandersloot, who got married in December 2018, bought a house near the Sky’s practice facility in Deerfield and have expressed their desire to return to the Sky after last season’s heartbreaking second-round loss in the playoffs to the Aces.
“Obviously [with] how last season ended I feel like I owe Chicago like a true commitment to them, and I told James that after the season,” Vandersloot said last month. “So there’s nothing up in the air about that. My goal is well aware. Right now, it doesn’t even feel like an offseason or free agency season to me.”
The return of Dolson seemed inevitable after the Sky traded Astou Ndour to the Wings earlier this week.
Dolson has grown as a stretch five over the last six seasons and plays a major role in the team’s overall chemistry. In 2019, she averaged 9.3 points and 5.6 rebounds.
Meanwhile, the addition of Colson, a speedy ball handler, signals that the Sky might be moving on from restricted free agent Jamierra Faulkner, who is recovering from her fifth knee surgery in four years. It also could mean that guard/forward Gabby Williams, who accepted the role as Vandersloot’s backup last season, will play more minutes as a small and power forward, which she said she would prefer.
Last season, Colson, the 16th overall pick in the 2011 draft, averaged 3.3 points and 1.8 assists in 11.5 minutes over 33 games. She scored in double figures on two occasions, including a career-high 17 points against the Mystics on July 13.
Wade and Colson have crossed paths once before as he was an assistant coach for the San Antonio Star when Colson played for the team in 2015 and 2016.
“Sydney has been a winner on every team she has been on,” Wade said in a statement. “We are looking forward to having another dynamic, change-of-pace point guard. Even more so, we’re confident she will be a great addition to our locker room.”
