The Chicago Sky just signed one of the WNBA’s best free agents

The Chicago Sky have signed Natasha Cloud, the team announced on Monday. Cloud was the best player available in free agency, and many were surprised she remained unsigned through the preseason, given her strong track record as a starting point guard in the WNBA.

“Natasha is one of the best passers and defenders in our league,” Chicago general manager Jeff Pagliocca said Monday in a statement. “She fits in with the other proven winners on our roster.”

Cloud was drafted in 2025 and spent the first 8 years of her career on the Washington Mystics. In 2024, she was on the Phoenix Mercury before joining the New York Liberty last year. She’s started 283 of 327 career games, averaging 8.8 points, 5.3 assists, and 1 steal.

Last season, she averaged 10.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.2 steals in 41 games for the New York Liberty last season. ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou reported that Cloud’s contract is a one-year, $555,000 deal.

The signing helps explain, in part, why second-year Hailey Van Lith was waived earlier in the day. Van Lith, who was the Sky’s 2025 first-round pick, had a strong preseason but was nonetheless cut on Monday morning. ESPN’s Kendra Andrews also reported that the decision to cut Van Lith was based on the coaching staff’s “style-of-play preference.”

Cloud now joins a new-look Chicago Sky roster that includes Skylar Diggins, Rickea Jackson, DiJonai Carrington, Azura Stevens, and Jacy Sheldon, as well as returners like Kamilla Cardoso, Rachel Banham, and Maddy Westbeld.

The team failed to make the playoffs last season, but was almost entirely overhauled in the offseason. They went 0-2 in the preseason, with losses against the Atlanta Dream and Phoenix Mercury.

The Sky’s season opener is on Saturday, May 9th, against the Portland Fire.