If there is one word that has defined the Sky’s 2024 season, it would be ‘‘change.’’
The word applied before a game was even played, with Teresa Weatherspoon taking over as coach and the Sky’s longest-tenured player — Kahleah Copper — requesting a trade. In the three months since the season began, the Sky still have not found stability.
Weatherspoon’s decision to move 6-foot forward Michaela Onyenwere into the starting five to replace guard Marina Mabrey is the latest adjustment.
‘‘You all saw Michaela at the end of the first half of the season and how well she was playing for us,’’ Weatherspoon said. ‘‘She’s so versatile. I’ve said this since the beginning, but she’s probably the most versatile player we have as far as the positions that she can play.’’
In the Sky’s last four games before the All-Star and Olympic breaks, Onyenwere averaged 8.5 points on 60% shooting from the field in fewer than 12 minutes per game.
Onyenwere is the Sky’s strongest two-way option at small forward. She offers the starting unit the added size, but she’s not the same three-point threat as Mabrey.
Weatherspoon, however, has been impressed by what she has seen in the last two weeks of practice.
‘‘She’s been doing well in camp,’’ Weatherspoon said of Onyenwere. ‘‘Shooting the ball well, rebounding well and running the floor well.’’
Weatherspoon indicated Onyenwere’s inclusion in the starting five is not indefinite, saying: ‘‘At this point right now, she will be part of the starting five.’’
Onyenwere has not had a consistent starting role since 2021, when she was voted WNBA Rookie of the Year with the Liberty. She started 29 of 32 games that season after being drafted No. 6 overall and averaged 8.6 points on 40% shooting, including 32.7% from three-point range.
But as Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb began to overhaul the roster, Onyenwere’s role diminished before she was traded in 2023. In fact, Onyenwere was part of the four-team trade former Sky general manager/coach James Wade initiated to acquire Mabrey.
After playing last season for the Mercury, Onyenwere was included in the trade package for Copper in February.
Mabrey’s trade request — the second made by a Sky player this season — compounded the team’s already-glaring three-point struggles. She was shooting her second-lowest percentage from three-point range since her rookie season before being traded to the Sun, contributing to the Sky’s spacing issues in the halfcourt.
A strong option to fill the three-point void is guard Rachel Banham, who was part of the package the Sky got for Mabrey.
General manager Jeff Pagliocca pursued Banham because he thinks she can find consistency from behind the arc with more playing time. She was averaging 13 minutes and shooting 34.8% from three-point range for the Sun before the trade.
But in a game against the Mercury on July 14, Banham scored a season-high 24 points and shot 8-for-11 from three.