Sky’s Angel Reese Deemed ‘Biggest Steal’ of 2024 Draft in WNBA GM Survey

Joseph Zucker@@JosephZuckerFeatured Columnist IVMay 14, 2024

Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Chicago Sky star Angel Reese was labeled the “biggest steal” of the 2024 WNBA draft in the league’s annual general manager survey.

Reese garnered 27 percent of the vote, putting her ahead of the Las Vegas Aces’ Dyaisha Fair and the rest of the field.

The 6’3″ forward had a decorated college career, particularly after transferring to LSU ahead of the 2022-23 season. She was the NCAA tournament’s Most Outstanding Player in 2023 as the Tigers lifted a title, and then she went on to claim the SEC Player of the Year as a senior.

In her two years with LSU, Reese averaged 20.9 points, 14.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks.

That she fell to the Sky with the No. 7 overall pick, however, speaks to the questions over how her game will translate to the pros.

Reese was limited as a scorer. She knocked down just five three-pointers between her spells at LSU and Maryland, and she has a ways to go to become even a capable mid-range shooter. It’s also unclear where she fits best on defense because she could have separate challenges at the 4 or the 5.

No rookie arrives in the WNBA as the finished product and Reese’s freshman campaign is complicated by the fact the Sky are in their first year of a major rebuild. There will be a lot of growing pains all around.

The early returns on Reese at least provide some encouragement. She dropped 13 points and nine rebounds in Chicago’s first preseason game and then shot 6-of-10 for 13 points, adding five rebounds and two steals, in Chicago’s 101-53 rout of the New York Liberty.

Nobody will be shocked if in a few years Reese has a few All-Star nods to her name.