Mystics trade grade for Jacy Sheldon deal with Sky

Although the Washington Mystics haven’t made any free agency noise as of this writing, they made a promising trade with the Chicago Sky for the second straight offseason on Saturday. They sent guard Jacy Sheldon for the Sky’s 2028 first-round pick almost 14 months after sending two-time All-Star guard Ariel Atkins for the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, a 2027 first-round pick swap, and a 2027 second-rounder.

Sheldon played just two games for the Mystics after they acquired her from the Connecticut Sun for fellow 2024 top-10 draft pick Aaliyah Edwards in August. The former Ohio State Buckeye didn’t play after the 88-83 home loss to the Golden State Valkyries on August 13 due to an ankle injury.

Sheldon, who averages 6.3 points on 42.3% shooting (35.1% 3-point) with two rebounds and 2.2 assists across 23.4 minutes in her career, could’ve been a rotational backcourt piece in Washington moving forward. The 25-year-old combo guard is known for her active hands defensively, as she averaged 1.8 steals per 48 minutes last season.

However, the 2028 draft class will likely be loaded with potential stars like Ohio State’s Jaloni Cambridge and UConn’s Sarah Strong. Adding Chicago’s first-rounder for that year gives Washington 14 picks over the next three drafts, with the 2026 draft occurring on Monday night:

• 2026: six picks (Nos. 4, 9, 11, 19, 30, 34)
• 2027: four picks (two first-round, one second-round, one third-round)
• 2028: four picks (two first-round, one second-round, one third-round)

That pile of draft capital puts the Mystics in position to form a deep young core over the next few years. They started that process last year by drafting Notre Dame guard Sonia Citron with the Sky’s pick and USC forward Kiki Iriafen No. 4, who each earned All-Star and All-Rookie honors last season. They also took Kentucky point guard Georgia Amoore No. 6, who missed the entire year after tearing her ACL in camp.

All three of them are returning in addition to 2025 second-round pick Lucy Olsen, and Washington will likely add one of the following star prospects at No. 4 on Monday:

• UConn guard Azzi Fudd
• Valencia (Spain) center Awa Fam
• TCU guard Olivia Miles
• UCLA center Lauren Betts

Plus, the 2027 draft class will likely include the following stars:

• USC guard JuJu Watkins
• Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo
• Iowa State center Audi Crooks

In short, the Mystics likely won’t contend for a title anytime soon, but expect them to form a deep roster with high-end talent over the next couple of years.

Mystics trade grade: A

There’s not much not to like about the Sheldon deal for Washington. The Ohio native wasn’t an essential piece of its core, and Chicago’s 2028 first gives the organization another asset to either draft a prospect with or use in a trade.

Additionally, the Mystics turned Edwards into two first-round picks, showing organizational foresight. Although they fired general manager Jamila Wideman on Monday after one season, this was a result of long-term planning between her and the rest of the front office after Edwards got phased out in the frontcourt behind Iriafen and center Shakira Austin last season.

Edwards, who was drafted by the previous administration, averaged just six points on 47.9% shooting with 3.3 rebounds in 13.3 minutes (21 games) for Washington before the trade. Instead of keeping the UConn alum for the entire year and possibly losing her to the 2026 expansion draft for nothing, Wideman and company flipped her for Sheldon and a 2026 first-round pick swap, which later turned into the No. 11 overall selection. After head coach Sydney Johnson took control of basketball operations on Monday, the organization then flipped Sheldon for the Sky’s 2028 first on Saturday.

This asset management only matters if the Mystics use those picks to draft/trade for productive players, but they have at least given themselves multiple chances to do so.

Monday’s draft begins at 7 p.m. ET, per WNBA.com. The broadcast will be on ESPN and the event will be held in New York City.

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