The Sky are off to their best start since 2023, but the Liberty are holding on to their No. 1 spot
By Jack Maloney May 18, 2026 at 10:28 am ET • 1 min read 
CBS Sports design Even during the busiest offseason in WNBA history, few teams made as many moves as the Chicago Sky, who completely revamped their roster after going 13-61 over the last two seasons and finishing tied for last place in 2025. There were plenty of questions about general manager Jeff Pagliocca's plan, and some remain, but the early returns have been exactly what the team hoped.
Following their victory over the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday, the Sky are 3-1 -- their best start since 2023, which happens to be the last time they made the playoffs -- and tied for second place with the New York Liberty.
Over countless discussions this winter and spring, Pagliocca and coach Tyler Marsh put forth a new vision for Sky basketball based on "toughness and grit," and players they knew were "gonna fight at all times," Pagliocca said. "We wanted to make sure that the team was much more competitive than it has been."
The Sky have been exactly that. Their offense remains a work in progress, but with Skylar Diggins, Natasha Cloud and Jacy Sheldon leading the way on the perimeter, and Kamilla Cardoso and Elizabeth Williams cleaning up the paint, the Sky have the best defense in the league. They're first in defensive rating (97.2), first in opponent field goal percentage (38.1%), third in opponent points in the paint per game (35) and fourth in defensive rebounding rate (71.7%). And they don't even have DiJonai Carrington or Azura Stevens yet.
Skylar Diggins is ushering in a new era for the Chicago Sky, but questions remain after chaotic offseason Jack Maloney
"I was struck by their cohesion, their identity defensively. Very very strong," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said after the Sky's win on Sunday.
It's still early, and everyone in Chicago will be holding their breath as they wait on the results of Rickea Jackson's knee imaging -- she left Sunday's game early with a non-contact injury -- but it's clear this is a different Sky team, and opponents are taking notice.
Here are CBS Sports' latest WNBA Power Rankings:
Biggest Movers 4 Sky 5 Wings RkTeams ChgRcrd 1
Liberty The Liberty's first loss this season came on a buzzer-beater against the expansion Fire, but they crushed them a few days later to move to 3-1. Despite the continued absence of Sabrina Ionescu, Satou Sabally and Leonie Fiebich, the Liberty's offense has been dominant. They have a 117.3 offensive rating (no other team is above 110.6) and a 65% true shooting percentage (no other team is above 60.9%). -- 2 
Aces Chelsea Gray added yet another clutch moment to her resume on Sunday with a last-second jumper to beat the Dream and prevent a horrible collapse. Earlier in the week, A'ja Wilson provided her own fireworks with a 45-point outing in a win over the Sun to become the league's all-time leader in 40-point games with five. The Aces have now won four games in a row since their Opening Day disaster against the Mercury to take sole possession of first place. 2 3 
Dream Atlanta has played three games, and none of them have been decided by more than five points. That trend continued Sunday when Chelsea Gray sent them to their first defeat with a last-second jumper, which came after a furious 20-2 run by the Dream late in the fourth to take the lead. While the Dream are still 2-1, their offense needs to improve. They're tied for last in the league in field goal percentage (39.1%). -- 4 
Sky The Sky continued their impressive start to the season with a win over the Lynx on Sunday to improve to 3-1, but lost key offseason acquisition Rickea Jackson to a left knee injury in the process. Natasha Cloud blamed the injury on the refs who "failed to protect Rickea." Everyone in Chicago will be holding their breath until the results of Jackson's imaging are revealed. The third-year forward is leading the team in scoring at 18 points per game. 4 5 
Valkyries After an incredible offensive start to the season, the Valkyries suffered their first defeat when they managed just 63 points on 29% shooting -- the second-worst mark in a game by any team thus far -- against the Sky. Natalie Nakase and the rest of the coaching staff had no such trouble scoring during their first annual coaches vs. media game, which they won, 107-23, on Saturday. 3 6 
Mercury Another 1-1 week for the Mercury, who lost to the Lynx in a rematch of their semifinal series last season, then beat the Sky. Serbian rookie Jovana Nogic continues to impress. She had 27 points in the win over Chicago and has made at least four 3-pointers in three of the Mercury's four games this season. Among rookies, she's third in scoring (16 points per game) and first in 3s made (13) by a wide margin. -- 7 
Mystics The Mystics' only game this week was a dramatic overtime victory over the Fever -- the second time they've played an extra frame in three outings thus far. Sonia Citron (30 points) and Kiki Iriafen (25 points) both had career highs in the win to continue strong starts to their sophomore campaigns. Citron is averaging 24.3 points on 60.5% shooting, while Iriafen is putting up 19 points and 13.7 rebounds on 59% shooting. 3 8 
Fever Caitlin Clark is now the WNBA's all-time leader in 20-point, 10-assist games with 12 and the only player in league history with multiple 30-point, 10-assist games. But even with all of her production, the Fever are just 2-2 to start the season, with those defeats coming by a combined five points. Additionally, Aliyah Boston's leg injury is something to monitor. When she sat out Sunday, it was the first game she missed in her professional or collegiate career. 1 9 
Lynx The Lynx started the week with wins over the Mercury and Wings, but ended it by learning rookie forward Emma Cechova had suffered a torn ACL and losing to the Sky. Cechova had quietly been a very good pick-up by Cheryl Reeve, averaging 8.3 points and 3.7 rebounds on 62.5% shooting off the bench. She will be a big loss in the frontcourt, especially with Napheesa Collier still sidelined. -- 10 
Wings The good vibes from the Wings' historic season-opening win have already faded. After two consecutive narrow defeats to the Dream and Lynx, new coach Jose Fernandez sharply criticized his team's defense and attitude in a stunning press conference. "There's selfishness in this locker room," Fernandez said. It will be fascinating to see how the Wings respond. 5 11 
Tempo This was a historic week for the Tempo, who picked up their first-ever victory against the Storm, then their first road victory against the Sparks. Brittney Sykes scored a career-high 38 points in the win over Los Angeles and went 15 of 15 from the free throw line in the process, while the team went 39 of 42 -- the most free throws any team has shot in a game since 2022. With Sykes leading the way, the Tempo have a league-best 0.445 free-throw rate. 2 12 
Sparks The Sparks' start is becoming concerning. They did pick up their first win this week by beating the expansion Tempo, but then lost to them a few days later. Despite all of their offseason moves, the Sparks still cannot defend. They haven't held a team to fewer than 87 points and have a league-worst 121.3 defensive rating. For comparison, the worst defensive rating a team has recorded for a full season in the last decade was 111.8 by the 2020 Fever in the bubble. 1 13 
Fire The Fire got the first win in franchise history in thrilling fashion when Sarah Ashlee Barker's putback at the buzzer stunned the Liberty. The next day, they were back at practice doing dribbling and shooting drills in their socks -- just one example of Alex Sarama's unique approach. He's also been egalitarian with playing time. No one on the Fire is playing 30 minutes per night and 10 players are averaging at least 10 minutes (min. two games played). 1 14 
Storm Two games, two more double-digit defeats for the Storm this week, who were without Dominique Malonga on Sunday against the Fever due to a concussion. It's unclear how long she'll remain sidelined, but the Storm did get some good news Sunday as No. 3 overall pick Awa Fam finally concluded her overseas commitments by winning the Spanish league title. Coach Sonia Raman said Fam will arrive in Seattle "soon." 2 15 
Sun The Sun's difficult start to the season continued with two more defeats this week, both to the Aces. They've now lost their first four games for the second season in a row, and are the lone winless team remaining. To be fair, though, they've had an extremely difficult schedule so far. That will change this week when they play the expansion Fire and rebuilding Storm -- though those games will be the start of a five-game West Coast trip. -- Join the Conversation comments 
