In the shocking first move of the 2021 WNBA off-season, superstar Candace Parker will be sent to the Chicago Sky as an unrestricted free agent, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported on Wednesday. The deal cannot become official until Monday. On the first day, teams are allowed to sign freelance agents for contracts.
Parker, one of the faces of the WNBA since she was drafted from Tennessee as number 1 overall in 2008, had spent her entire 13-year career with the Los Angeles Sparks. After winning two MVPs, winning Defensive Player of the Year last season, and the MVP Finals when the Sparks won the 2016 WNBA Championship, Parker is on his way home to play where she opened first She appeared on the women’s basketball scene as National Player of the Year at Naperville Central High School in the Chicago suburbs.
What does Parker’s move mean for the skies and the sparks and the balance of power elsewhere in the WNBA? Let’s take a look at the key questions.
Can heaven move lower in playoffs?
Chicago was in an interesting position when joining the freelance agency as almost the entire core of the team is under contract for 2021. Of the team’s nine best players in minutes played during the 2020 season, only postal player Cheyenne Parker (unrestricted) is a free agent. The signing of the other C. Parker almost certainly means Sky won’t have the option to re-sign Cheyenne, but that’s fine as Candace can play a similar role and improve the rotation of the forecourt.
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Since James Wade’s arrival as head coach in 2019, Chicago has been on the verge of an altercation. The Sky went between 8 and 14 in 2019 and was heartbreakingly nearing the WNBA semi-finals before Dearica Hamby’s unlikely shot from near half-court sent her home.
Last season Chicago started 4-10 in the WNBA bubble in Bradenton, Florida before stumbling across the finish line. Center Azura Stevens suffered a knee injury at the end of the season and both she and striker Diamond DeShields exited the bladder in late August. DeShields was injured throughout the season and left the bladder for personal reasons. Sixth, with a record of 12-10, the Sky were upset by the Connecticut Sun in the opening round of the playoffs.
Enter Parker, who is still doing high at the age of 34. After being limited to 22 of 34 regular season games in 2019 due to injuries, when she hit a career low of 11.2 PPG on average, Parker bounced back on the WNBA campus in 2020. She physically benefited without the normal wear and tear of traveling. She made a career high of 54% on her 2-point attempts and finished third in the MVP vote – one place ahead of new teammate Courtney Vandersloot.
Playing with Vandersloot, the league’s top point guard, will likely require some adjustments for Parker. Last season, the Sparks ranked 11th among the WNBA’s 12 teams according to Synergy Sports for the percentage of their games (29%) that resulted from a shot, a trip to the free-throw line, or revenue from a pick-and-place -Roll game ended pursuit. After Vandersloot, Chicago had the fourth highest pick-and-roll rate at 37% and the most points per game (1.0).
Candace Parker, who averaged 16.9 PPG and 8.6 RPG over her 13-year WNBA career, was named Defensive Player of the Year 2020. Ned Dishman / NBAE via Getty Images
It’s been a while since Parker was primarily a pick-and-roll player, but in 2017 she finished the fourth most games in the league as the screen setter per Synergy Sports, averaging 1.04 points per game on those occasions. Over time, she would develop the pick-and-roll chemistry with Vandersloot.
With Vandersloot resting, Parker could have more opportunities to play with the ball in their hands. Wade has pioneered backup Gabby Williams many times, and Parker, who led the league of assists in 2015 and ranks 14th in WNBA history in career assists, is undoubtedly an upgrade in that role.
While that analysis has focused on how Parker fits on the offensive, the sky doesn’t really have to get any better there. Chicago finished fourth in the offensive standings in 2020 and second in 2019, so the offensive was good enough to win. It’s defense that the Sky, ninth in 2019 and eighth last season, needs to improve. Parker’s Defensive Player of the Year 2020 campaign undoubtedly benefited from the name recognition. She was actually expelled from the league’s all-defensive teams. Even so, Parker’s ability to hold multiple positions makes it an upgrade for Chicago.
With a core of three All-Stars in their thirties (Vandersloot will be 32 next month and Allie Quigley, like Parker, 35 this year), Sky may not be built for the long term. Even so, adding Parker could help Chicago take the next step in the playoffs.
How do the sparks spin?
This marks the end of an era for Los Angeles where franchise icon Lisa Leslie was able to seamlessly pass the torch on to Parker after two seasons of her Hall of Fame careers overlap. The Sparks were one of the most consistent teams in the league. You have played the playoffs in all but one of Parker’s 13 seasons in LA, and won the title in one of two finals during that time.
The prospects for the Sparks are now gloomy, although their rivals will not pity them. Los Angeles still has a past # 1 overall and MVP at Nneka Ogwumike, which the Sparks used their core designation to in part because Parker was ineligible after three seasons with core contracts. Ogwumike will sign again on the team, a league source told ESPN’s Mechelle Voepel on Wednesday.
Los Angeles has a second key free agent on the grid, Chelsea Gray, whose return is also a question mark. Brittney Sykes (restricted) and Riquna Williams (unrestricted) are also free agents. But Parker’s departure gives the Sparks a chance to bid in the free agency to add to a core of Ogwumike and guard Kristi Tolliver, who signed with the team last off-season but decided not to play in the bubble.
One interesting question mark is Chiney Ogwumike, who also signed off from the 2020 season as her extrajudicial star grows as an ESPN analyst and commentator. With Ogwumike’s contract expired, like her sister, she can only negotiate with Los Angeles if she wants to play this season.
The LA market is still a big draw for free agents, so the Sparks should be able to build a competitive team. But there is more uncertainty about their future than in years.
Free agency for a flying start
With most of the best freelance agents on competing teams this offseason, it wasn’t clear that we were going to see as much movement as we did last winter when the new WNBA collective bargaining agreement that raised the salary cap caused a flurry of stars to switch teams. Parker’s decision to travel to Chicago suggests this off-season could be just as active or more active.
Sometimes a large transaction has a ripple effect. In this case, Cheyenne Parker is available to another team who could have expected her to sign again while the Sparks may have room to spend money. These steps would, in turn, cause other teams to respond.
With the status of so many key players remaining uncertain, it is difficult to predict exactly where the sky is in the league’s pecking order until the dust settles on the free hand. For the moment, I’d say that for the first time since losing to Parker and the Sparks in 2016, Chicago can count on a semi-finals, with a chance to go deeper into the playoffs.
