It’s safe to say that Angel Reese has found a new home in Chicago. Reese and the Sky are turning out to be a perfect match — Chicago is flirting with the playoffs, while Reese is establishing herself as of the WNBA‘s most feared defenders and rebounders in her rookie season.
Reese might have been left off Cheryl Reeve‘s national team roster at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, but she was named a WNBA All-Star and leads the league in rebounds per game in her first season. Just a few months ago, Reeve and her Minnesota Lynx had the chance to select Reese…but the sequence of events since could come back to haunt the Lynx in the years to come.
Will the Lynx come to regret passing on Reese?
The day before the 2024 draft, Lynx coach and president of basketball operations Reeve completed a trade with the Sky that seems likely to change the course of WNBA history. Reeve — who just led Team USA to an eighth consecutive gold medal at the Summer Olympics — agreed to trade the seventh overall pick to Chicago for the eighth pick, along with a 2025 second-round pick and the right to swap first-round picks in the 2026 draft.
Reeve, a four-time WNBA champion as a coach and a three-time Coach of the Year in Minnesota, is a widely-respected figure around the league. Her 2024 Lynx have the third-best record in the W at 19-8, and they have the look of a championship contender. But adding Reese to that mix did not appeal to Reeve, according to Minnesota Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse — who wrote “Reeve passing on Reese was the equivalent of an NBA team passing on Dennis Rodman to take…who, Jarrett Culver?”
The Lynx instead took USC Trojans forward Alissa Pili at #8 overall, and she has yet to start a game while six minutes per night. Meanwhile, Reese would be the Rookie of the Year favorite if not for Caitlin Clark, and she appears set to anchor the Sky lineup for a decade-plus — all while forming a bond with Minnesota’s star forward, Napheesa Collier.
It will be a major challenge for Reeve and Minnesota to continue winning 10 years from now, and only time will tell as to whether the Lynx have another ace up their sleeve after passing on another star who fell into their laps.
