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White Sox building confidence + Bulls zeroing in on Matt Lloyd? | Chicago Sports Tonight
ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers and 104.3 The Score’s Matt Spiegel join the show to break down what’s behind the White Sox surge. After a sweep of the Angels, the Sox are gaining confidence and creeping back into the division race — is this the start of something real or just a hot stretch? Plus, we dive into the historic start from slugger Munetaka Murakami — is he already becoming the face of the franchise? And if Matt Lloyd is the right choice to lead the Chicago Bulls front office.
The question posed to Chicago Sky general manager Jeff Pagliocca was simple.
Why are you confident the 2026 season is going to be better than the last two seasons?
The last two years led to just 23 wins in two combined WNBA seasons. Each time, something had to change.
"We understand that we needed to get better," Pagliocca said.
For the third year in a row, the Chicago Sky are fielding a new-look team.
For the third year in a row, the Chicago Sky are expecting to be competitive in a league that's threatening to leave them behind.
Pagliocca made a slew of free agent signings and trades to reshape the Sky roster behind established veterans, budding young talents and familiar faces. It's still the third time in three years the general manager has overhauled the roster.
This overhaul will be different, the team says. Because this time, the team boasts a different approach to its roster overhaul.
What they're saying:
The Sky crumbled in 2025. They put together a roster of former All-Stars, WNBA Champions and veterans that were supposed to lift the team from a 13-win season in 2024 into playoff contention.
But, the competitive team never materialized. The Sky got worse, due to a rash of injuries and struggles under first-year head coach Tyler Marsh. Only a few players remain on the roster from last year.
Those players – Courtney Vandersloot, Kamilla Cardoso, Elizabeth Williams, Hailey Van Lith and Rachel Banham – will bring a needed perspective.
"The combination of players who remain here that were here last year, there's obviously a renewed feeling coming into this year of just having a bad taste in their mouth of how last season went and ended," Marsh said. "We don't want to feel that again."
The Sky want to avoid the same type of collapse in 2026. That included a plan for a third overhaul.
It started with trading star Angel Reese. It continued with signing Skylar Diggins, Dijonai Carrington and Azura Stevens. The Sky also traded Ariel Atkins for Rickea Jackson, then drafted Gabriela Jaquez.
Adding these players was part of the Sky's plan.
"We went and added some players that are very competitive and very good at what they do," Pagliocca said. "We trust who we are. We trust our staff, we trust our ownership, and we trust the corps that's been here, and it's stuck around."
"We know obviously how important winning is," Marsh said. "Then you add the pieces that we've added of certified winners and people who exhibit that toughness."
What's next:
The Sky's new core will be tested immediately.
Chicago's first four games are on the road against Portland, Golden State, Phoenix and Minnesota. Three of those four teams were in the playoffs last season.
The Sky's new look will come with the same aspirations in 2025. Players like Diggins, Vandersloot, Carrington and Stevens have been a part of playoff teams.
The Sky got them for a reason. That reason is that they have the expectation to win.
"We have high aspirations and high expectations, and we know who we are, we know who we're trying to be, and we'll have to wait and see," Pagliocca said. "But, we have a lot of players here that I don't think are going to accept failure this time around."
The Sky have never accepted failure before, but it's also a difficult dance.
Reshaping a roster needs time. The players need to find the ways they play the best together, and with the right lineups.
It's a difficult balance the Sky need to consider.
"There's a marriage there that we want to see how it kind of materializes and we think that we're going in the right direction from that standpoint," Marsh said. "We're excited about that."