Sky GM says Angel Reese in the team “until I hear differently”

After a tense end of the season between Chicago’s sky and the franchise player Angel Reese, the director general Jeff Pagliocca said on Friday that “until I hear differently, it is the direction that we are going to move, it is on the list.”

Reese, choice n ° 7 of the 2024 draft, was suspended for a half -dimanche after making comments to the Chicago Tribune that the franchise deemed “prejudicial to the team” – an organizational decision which came from the top, according to coach Tyler Marsh.

She did not take the court for the sky after the announcement, and the team listed her as dealing with a back injury for her last three games, stimulating that the relationship between the franchise and the star had fragmented-perhaps beyond the reparation.

“Angel is a young ascending talent in this league which had two very, very good seasons here in Chicago,” Pagliocca said on Friday. “Obviously, we went through what we did. I feel like I had closed the chapter on it. She spoke to her teammates. She spoke publicly. We have evolved as a team. He is a special player. And I have good conversations with Angel daily, with her team daily. They are constant and productive.”

The All-Star twice apologized publicly and the team in private, and the organization said since last week that it has been trying to put the incident behind it.

The sky went 1-13 this season without Reese, which led the WNBA in rebounds per match (12.6) and double-doubles (23) while walking the team by scoring (14.7 points) and in assists (3.7).

The frustration of the situation of Reese and more broadly in the direction of the franchise took place in the final of the team season on Thursday, some fans holding panels which said “Free Angel” and “Sell the team” and at one point, some starting a song “Fire Jeff”.

The sky has fought powerfully in the past two years, spending 13-27 in 2024 and dismissing the coach Teresa Weatherspoon after a season. But 2025 was not better found, Chicago ending equally at the worst League record at 10-34.

Part of the dissatisfaction has roots to come back further, because the sky, the champions of the WNBA 2021, saw several star players leave the franchise and was generally considered behind the others with regard to resources and investment.

Reese has relayed similar feelings in the article in Tribune, saying that it “is not satisfied with the same s — We did this year” and adding that the team “[has] To obtain great players “this offseason, otherwise she could consider moving on.

Pagliocca said the songs were “difficult to hear” but reiterated that he was determined to do things well and that there is a greater commitment to resources than in previous years.

“I appreciate that we have passionate fans who want to see winning,” said Pagliocca. “We feel the same thing. And I know that I have the total support of the property. We have great conversations. There is a lot of mutual respect there. I have all the respect in the world to Tyler. I think he is the guy for work.”

The sky has treated a wave of injuries this year that has dropped their ceiling, with perhaps no as substantial as the loss of the courtenery vandersloot seven games in the season to a LCA tear.

Pagliocca is expecting Vandersloot, his main free agent signing this offseason, returning to 2026: “If she is in good health, she will play basketball here,” he said.

In the article in Tribune, Reese expressed his concern about the situation of the leader of the sky, saying: “We cannot count on Courtney to return to the age when she is [36]. I know that it will be an excellent asset for us, but we cannot count on this. We need someone, probably a little younger with some experience, someone who has played the game and who is ready to compete for a championship and who has already done so. “”

Pagliocca said that the team knows that it cannot depend on Vandersloot to play 38 minutes in every match, but that the organization still has “a lot of belief in it”.

“No one is recovering seriously as she,” said Pagliocca. “I think she is more excited than ever to prove that the world is wrong with whom she is and what she is capable of. … She embodies this city so much with her tenacity and how she competent and how she behaves, so he is a very important person for the organization.”

Pagliocca said that if 2025 was a step forward in the construction of a better culture, they “absolutely need to improve the list” while Chicago seeks to become a competitor. The Sky has only four players under contract – their two recruits, Reese and Kamilla Cardoso – for 2026, because most veterans of the League are expiring agreements in anticipation of a new collective negotiation.