Chicago Sky trading Angel Reese was deemed to enhance the team’s strategic fit, with Kamilla Cardoso as its centerpiece. Even Cardoso’s former Gamecocks head coach, Dawn Staley, made it clear last month that Reese’s trade will leave Cardoso with more opportunities. However, just a few weeks into the season, one WNBA reporter isn’t buying into this assessment.

Grant Young, a WNBA beat journalist who contributes to publications like SI, recently doubled down on Cardoso’s fit with the Sky after Reese’s departure. “Angel Reese leaving the Chicago Sky hasn’t unlocked Kamilla Cardoso in a way people expected,” Young said. “And honestly, people oversimplify their offensive fit. The thought was that Reese and Cardoso clogged the paint together and hurt each other’s space. But honestly, that hasn’t been the case so far. Cardoso’s points are actually down compared to last year.”

“Because I think space is just one aspect of this equation. Reese did clog the paint at times, but also created a lot of pressure for the defense to deal with. Reese’s physicality, offensive rebounding, and second-chance opportunities created more chances for Cardoso. But now, defense can solely focus on her in the interior,” Young added.

On paper, Reese’s trade, gave Cardoso a new dynamic. “I think this year is probably going to be a great year for her, statistically speaking, as well as comfort,” Cardoso’s former coach, Dawn Staley, said. “And the fact that Angel isn’t on the roster. I’m not saying that in a bad way; it just leaves more opportunity for Kamilla to spread her wings.”

It’s worth noting that both Reese and Cardoso are similar scorers to some extent. They don’t rely much on shooting from deep but rather on their interior presence to rack up points.

As a result, the paint got clogged by both of them on occasion, and there wasn’t enough space to work with. Thus, when Reese departed, Cardoso was the go-to player for the Sky in the paint. But it hasn’t reflected in the points column so far.

For instance, Kamilla Cardoso is averaging 12.0 points per game this season. On the other hand, in 2025, she averaged 13.6. But, on the contrary, her rebounding numbers have increased substantially from 8.5 last year to 10.3 in 2026. It shows that in Angel Reese’s absence, Cardoso has taken on the team’s rebounding role and is currently leading the Sky in that metric.

The subtle dip in points does diminish the argument that the trade benefits her offensively. She may no longer benefit from Reese’s offensive rebounding, which created easy paint opportunities for her. Furthermore, as the centerpiece of the frontline, she’s also being put to greater tests by the opposition defenses, which might further reduce her production.

But reporter Grant Young believes Cardoso’s situation might change with the arrival of Azura Stevens, who is currently out with a knee injury. “The good news for Chicago and Cardoso is that Azura Stevens is about to come back from injury,” Young said. “She should provide the scoring and spacing that can help Cardoso, and she’s a much better fit alongside Kamilla.”

Young’s assessment does make sense. Stevens and Cardoso’s skill sets don’t overlap completely. They are both fierce scorers from the paint. But on top of it, Stevens is also a fierce three-point shooter, boasting a career average of 35%. Furthermore, Stevens has established herself as a solid rebounder, averaging 8.0 rebounds last season with the LA Sparks.

Of course, she isn’t as formidable as Angel Reese. Yet, Cardoso can benefit from Stevens’ arrival in the rotation. And at the moment, Azura Stevens’ arrival is quite necessary too, especially with Rickea Jackson’s season-ending injury.

All in all, it’s quite certain that the Chicago Sky’s frontcourt will need a few more games to settle after Angel Reese’s departure. But ChiBarbie, on the other hand, is kind of thriving to an extent with the Atlanta Dream.

Angel Reese Earns Praise From Atlanta Dream President Amid First Season With The Franchise

Quite similar to Kamilla Cardoso, the Atlanta move has freed up Angel Reese to an extent. She doesn’t need to handle the bulk of the team’s scoring. Because she already has players like Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray to handle it. On top of that, she alone leads the team’s front court, thereby allowing her to play to her true essence.

Atlanta Dream president Morgan Shaw Parker summed up Reese’s impact on the team in the best possible way during a recent conversation.

“Her persona, her style of play, and what she brings from a cultural perspective, and her personality just fit right in here,” he said. “We all know that Angel brings a completely different level of cultural significance to this team. I think she transcends basketball…I’m really excited to see the future together with all of our players, including Angel, here.”

From an on-court perspective, Angel Reese’s Atlanta stint has been a mixed bag so far. She showcased flashes of her skill set right away for her new team in the first two regular-season games. Reese recorded consecutive double-doubles against Minnesota (11 points and 14 rebounds) and Dallas (12 points and 16 rebounds).

But the game against the Las Vegas Aces turned out to be an early warning sign for her. In the entire game, Reese just scored one field goal and couldn’t manage double figures in either points or rebounds. But considering these are Reese’s initial games of the season, her graph will just go in a positive direction from here.

After all, even for a star player like Angel Reese, she needs a few days to settle into a new system. Most importantly, with Reese, Atlanta looks quite complete on paper. Thus, it will be interesting to see how Reese develops her ceiling with her new team across the season.