Angel Reese Trade Shockwaves

Angel Reese lands in Atlanta, and we break down why Chicago would move a star and what two first-round picks really mean. We also dig into how her “we need great players” comment changes the pressure on both teams and on Reese herself. 
• Angel Reese trade details and the first Sky matchup date to circle 
• How Reese’s public roster comments lead to suspension drama and fallout 
• The case that Reese is a true star based on points, rebounds, and playmaking 
• Whether two first-round picks can ever match proven production 
• What Chicago’s rotation looks like without Reese and why the pick strategy matters 
• How Reese fits with the Atlanta Dream and what she unlocks for Howard and Gray 
• Frontcourt spacing concerns with Griner and Jones and the risk of a clogged paint 
• Why the scrutiny on Reese rises now that she has better teammates 
• Big-picture impact on WNBA contender windows and player narratives 
Please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone one, about the WNBA, but also two about my show. 

Transcript

Angel Reese Traded To Atlanta

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What's up, everybody? It's your favorite show, favorite show, get a bucket. I'm your host, Trey, as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Listen, we just gotta get right on into it, right? Because this was kind of interesting. Angel Reese got traded. Let's just start right there. Like the Chicago Sky have traded Angel Reese, arguably their star, to the Atlanta dream. Off top, June 9th, 2026, will be an entertaining day for sure. Because that's gonna be the first matchup that Angel Reese has a chance at going against her Chicago Sky team. Now, I'm curious what type of impact does this have on the WNBA? Now, let's take this back to why the trade actually happened. Last season, Angel Reese actually made some comments about her team needing to get good or great players, right? Point guard specifically. Now, keep in mind, ladies and gentlemen, she got suspended by her team for at least half a game because of that message that she stated. Angel Reese ended up not playing the rest of the season, and the Chicago Sky said that her back was injured, and that was the justification. But again, that's another stuff, that's another discussion for another day, by the way. But again, they suspended Angel Reese for that team, for that, for that team comment. Angel does apologize to her teammates for probably making the comment publicly. I don't know if she don't she don't strike me as the type of player who or person who walks back her statements, especially because it seemed like she was ten toes down on that one personally. Now, Angel was the Chicago Skies team leading scorer and rebounder, and she was almost the leader in assist, if I'm not mistaken. Now, with Angel, I think, who was it? Courtney Vandersloot had about five assists, but she only played seven games. So after that, Angel Reese leads the Chicago Sky with 3.7 assists. So that's the type of player we're talking about. The player who averages the most points, rebounds, assists, second and steals, and tied for third for blocks. That's a star player right there. And they traded her for two first-round picks. Like two first-round picks to be which to be clear, the sky have to do piss poor in order to get good picks to replace someone like Angel Reese. Now, could we end up getting a low pick, meaning the Chicago Sky? Sure. That's a solid possibility for sure. Especially when you think about it, right? They are kind of drafting relatively low, about fifth, if I'm not mistaken. So, like, cool. But I thought they could have gotten a little bit more for Angel Reese. Again, someone who's leading your team in points, rebounds, assists, second and steals, and tie three for blocks. Now, with her comments, maybe they alienated her teammates, right? But I gotta also say this too, she's not completely wrong. Haley Van Lith, good player, same draft class as Angel Reese. Could she be a great player? I don't know. Could she be a good player? Possibly. She had that star caliber type mold going into college, lost it a little bit during college, but still kind of found her own way back again, right? Led TCU pretty far last season, did a good thing. So again, I think Angel could have been one more professional, but maybe she was also a bit too impatient. Let's talk about it. Now, again, like I said, the the two first rounders for the Chicago Sky that they acquired, they might not be a good enough trade for this maker. I'm not gonna lie to you. It might not be a good enough trade. Neither them, neither the sky nor the dream are probably gonna bring in the same value that Angel Reese brought to the Chicago Sky. So when I'm thinking about the Sky, we got Courtney Van, talking about the starters. We got Courtney Vandersloo, although that could swap depending on age and impact that maybe Haley Van Lith has. But we got Courtney Vandersloo, Ariel Atkins, Rachel Bannham, Michaela Annuare, and Camilla Cardoza. Then we got Haley Van Lith, Kia Nurse, Rebecca Allen, and Elizabeth Williams. That's not a team that's probably going to get to the playoffs, but I could see them potentially struggling enough to get a lower pick. So maybe it works out for the Chicago Sky. But we have question marks now. Can Carmilla Cardoza be enough as the best player or prospect on the team? And again, I told y'all, Angel might have been too impatient. The reason why I said that, they could have, the Chicago Sky still could draft someone like Aflager Johnson who played with Angel Reese on LSU. Yes, we're talking about a rookie, but let's be clear too, it's not like Angel Reese won a rookie not too, too long ago. So again, ladies and gentlemen, can the sky start to build something promising? Sure, I think they can. Will they? We got to wait and see. And was Angel Reese too impatient? Possibly. But I also understand her wanting to get traded as well, too, because again, the Sky missed the playoffs two times in a row. Carmilla Cardoza, she outplayed Angel Reese in terms of games played, but I think she missed her first season as well, too. So I get a good amount of games too. So I get you. I get you. And Angel Reese is a star in this game, leading not her team, but the league in rebounding. She can also get a bucket despite that gripe that people have with her in terms of efficiency. She can get a bucket. She's a pretty good versatile player. So when we add her to a team like The Dream, that makes me think a couple of things. Like one, are you losing Britney Griner? Because right now, off top, we have Jordan Canada, Ryan Howard, Alicia Gray, Angel Reese, and Britney Greiner. But let's not forget, too, we also have Shitori Walker Kimbrough, Tiana Pow Powell, Nas Hillman, and Breonna Jones on the squad. And Breonna Jones played really well. Britney Greiner didn't play the all-star form, I'll give you that. But she's still 6'9 and can dominate physically and can stretch the floor out. So you bringing in someone like Angel Reese, hey, she might be able to help with that rebounding factor. And we already know she doesn't have to score. She doesn't have to be able to draw or play because she can just get the rebound and get putbacks if need be. So Ryan Howard can get a little more selfish on scoring the ball. Alicia Gray can get a little more selfish on scoring the ball. Brittany Griner can as well, too, because again, Angel Reese can get the rebound, put the ball back on the floor. Put the ball back in the basket. She can get a basket. She can get a bucket simply by just getting a rebound. That's very helpful. But I am curious though, will Angel Reese and someone like a Breonna Jones pairing work? Because now the paint might be a little too clogged. Someone's gonna have to space the floor out. I understand that Breonna Jones can. How effective will she be now at that role, if you will? Especially if Angel Reese isn't shooting the ball. Because to be clear, Breonna Jones is probably the better shooter between her and Angel. Now I'm also thinking, will someone like Angel Reese Reese? Oh my gosh, keep Ryan Howard and Alicia Gray? Will they will she help keep that duo together? Because these forwards, they are quite scary, I'm not gonna lie to you. Ryan Howard is fairly young. I want to say about 25 now, maybe even 26. And Alicia Gray is probably 29, going close to 30. So we're starting to hit that window where their impact is going to be shifting a little bit. Will Angel Reese be able to keep them together? Because I did state a, I want to say a season maybe two ago, before last season, I told one of my boys, and it's on, it's been recorded, that they probably have a two-year championship window, meaning just to get to the championship game. If that don't work out, I can see someone like Alicia Gray leaving to go to another team. But having someone like Angel Reese, now you arguably have a big three. Can this be another contending team? I think last season we had that case for them. This season, I think the expectations are a bit higher just because of who you acquire. So again, going back to Angel's point on she wants to play with good slash great players. Well, you have good slash great players. And keep in mind, people were already on Angel's Tale about not being able to get a bucket efficiently. Forget the fact that she's leading, that she's get averaging a double double. But we care about efficiency as well, too, which that is a thing. That is a thing. But now you're playing with good to great players, so you get what you wanted. So now people are going to scrutinize you a little bit more. Could she be more professional? Certainly. Because again, making that statement publicly, it puts a nice little target on your back. If you make that like if you make that comment in private to your organization and then you get traded, we're wondering what happens. So while I do appreciate the openness that she displayed, would like for her to be a little more professional. She could make that statement to commentators and analysts and say, Well, look, I wanted to get traded. I felt like the organization wasn't moving in the direction that I wanted them to. As a result, we parted ways. She could have done that instead of just blasting out, hey, we need to get good, great players. Because now that we're looking at players like Haley Van Lyff, is she not good to great? Looking at Courtney Vanderslew, is she not sufficient? How about Camilla Cardoza? Is she not good enough? Like, ladies and gentlemen, that's what you're saying. That's what we're hearing as analysts and fans when we're listening to Angel Reese talk. So again, ladies and gentlemen, putting the pressure on Angel Reese, we also got to put pressure on the Atlanta Dream because now they don't win. Guess what? Oh, we're going at Angel Reese. And now we're going at her teammates, too. Oh, well, I guess you guys weren't good or great enough to get the job done. That's what I'm looking at, the Atlanta Dream now, ladies and gentlemen, when we're talking about these players. So again, Angel Reese might have been a bit premature, but I also understand her justification in wanting to get traded eventually. Because you want to be able to put yourself in the right position. Like, and we're looking at players like Caitlin Clark and what team she has. So again, I can understand there being a little bit of a jealousy in terms of team construction. Because when you're comparing yourself to other future or other past grades, you gotta say, well, hey, I need to have that ability to be properly compared. There's a lot of times where we can say, oh, well, talent for talent, this player might be better, but this other player was better because their their history and their storyline is a lot better than this other player. Fine, I get you, Angel Reese. I hear that. So now you're in the position to be able to be considered a contender, to be able to be potentially called one of the greats if you actually produce, if your team produces. So therefore, now's that pressure on you, additional pressure on you. So I'm that I'm definitely curious how this impacts the WNBA going forward. But ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I'm curious what you all are thinking. Do you all like this trade for the Chicago Sky? Do you like the trade for the Atlanta Dream? Do you like the trade for Angel Reese? What are your what are your gripes? What are your stipulations for this trade? I'm curious where you think both teams will go. I'm curious who you think both teams should try to draft. Like going like this, this is a lot. I was not expecting this. I was actually talking about my WNBA draft predictions. And I thought the Chicago Sky could have got Flager Johnson because of the LSU connection. And that would have been wonderful. Now they still can get her. But to be clear, there's less of a reason now to get Flag A. So again, ladies and gentlemen, I'm definitely curious how this all goes. But that does conclude the end of the episode, ladies and gentlemen. So please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone one, about the WNBA, but also two about my show. My name is Trey. I'm the host of Get a Bucket. I hope you are all having a good one. Take care.