The bright side of the Angel Reese trade still looks dim

The bright side of the Angel Reese trade still looks dim

The bright side of the Angel Reese trade is that the Sky can toss their “Twin Towers” strategy, which wasn’t really working.In 2024, the Sky drafted post players Reese and Kamilla Cardoso to lay the foundation for the franchise’s future.Both can score inside and dominate the glass, but neither entered the pros as an outside shooter. The Sky expected that to evolve.Through two seasons, it didn’t. They still scored most of their points in the paint and took very few shots from the perimeter. This shrunk the floor and made the offense predictable.Meanwhile, the league was moving in the other direction. The most successful teams play with “stretch” bigs who can shoot from outside, forcing defenders into tough choices and opening driving lanes for everyone else.Last season’s top four teams in the regular-season standings — the Lynx, Aces, Dream and Mercury — averaged 7.1 3-point attempts per game from their post players.Reese and Cardoso combined for 0.8.The Sky knew this wasn’t sustainable. Coach Tyler Marsh and general manager Jeff Pagliocca want to play a pace-and-space system that requires its bigs to let it fly.With Reese gone to the Dream, they can target a stretch big in free agency to fulfill that vision immediately.The problem is that the Sky don’t have a compelling pitch for why the best ones should join them.They’ve failed to construct a competitive roster the last two seasons. They’ve fallen behind the league’s new standard in facilities and staffing.And their best players in recent years — Kahleah…

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