Angel Reese is traded to Atlanta Dream after two

Angel Reese has a new WNBA home.

After spending her first two seasons with the Chicago Sky, the two-time All Star has been traded to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for first-round picks in 2027 and 2028, the groups announced Monday morning. Atlanta also receives the option to swap second-round picks with Chicago in 2028.

“An Angel’s DREAM,” Reese posted on X. “ATL WHAT UP?!”

Reese was already a star before coming to the WNBA after serving to Louisiana State win the national championship over Caitlin Clark and Iowa in 2023 and main the Tigers back to the Elite Eight the next 12 months.

Selected by Chicago with the seventh general decide in the 2024 draft, Reese completed as runner-up to Clark in rookie-of-the-year voting and led the league in rebounds per sport in each of her first two seasons. Overall, she has averaged 14.1 factors and 12.9 rebounds a sport.

The Sky have gone 23-61 and missed the playoffs both seasons since drafting Reese. On Sept. 3, the Chicago Tribune printed quotes from the star participant that indicated her frustration with the crew’s incapacity to construct a profitable roster and an inclination to go away if the group isn’t in a position to get it proper.

“I’d like to be here for my career, but if things don’t pan out, obviously I might have to move in a different direction and do what’s best for me,” Reese told the Tribune.

After the Sky’s 88-64 victory over the Connecticut Sun that evening, Reese told reporters she had apologized to her teammates about the article.

“I think the language is taken out of context,” she said, “and I really didn’t intentionally mean to put down my teammates, because they’ve been through this with me throughout the whole year. They’ve busted their ass, just how I bust my ass, they showed up for me through thick and thin, and in the locker room when nobody could see anything.”

Reese didn’t play for Chicago again. She was suspended half a sport for her feedback, which had been deemed “detrimental to the team,” served a separate obligatory one-game suspension by the WNBA for receiving eight technical fouls during the season and missed the ultimate three video games of the season with what was listed as a back injury.

The Sky said in a assertion Monday that the “trade is designed to achieve roster balance and represents a great opportunity for all parties.”

“Angel has achieved many record-breaking milestones in her first two years in the WNBA and has been a competitive force for the Sky,” the crew wrote. “We are thankful for her many important contributions to this league and this game, and we know she will continue to have a big impact on the court and beyond.”

Reese joins an Atlanta crew that went 30-14 and completed first in the Eastern Conference before shedding to the Indiana Fever in the first spherical of the playoffs. The roster consists of Allisha Gray, who completed fourth in the MVP voting last season, as nicely as sixth participant of the 12 months Naz Hillmon and All-Star Brionna Jones.

“Angel is a dynamic talent and a perfect fit for what we are building in Atlanta,” Dream basic supervisor Dan Padover said in a assertion. “She has already proven herself as one of the most impactful players in the league, and her competitiveness, production and drive to win align seamlessly with our vision. This is an exciting moment for our organization and our fans.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.