Dana Evans’ Uncertain Future in ChicagoDana Evans’ Uncertain Future in Chicago Dana Evans’ time with the Chicago Sky has been marked by unfulfilled expectations. Despite her desire to showcase her starting potential, her minutes have dwindled, raising questions about her role in the team. After a season as a reserve in 2021, Evans anticipated a breakthrough in 2023 with the departure of Courtney Vandersloot. However, coach and general manager James Wade’s acquisition of Marina Mabrey and signing of Courtney Williams pushed her down the depth chart once again. This season, Evans initially became the starting point guard for the Sky. However, after 12 games, she was demoted to a substitute role. Her minutes decreased significantly, prompting speculations about her future with the team. Evans expressed her belief that she saw a future in Chicago, but feels that perception has changed. Coach Teresa Weatherspoon has stated her long-term vision for Evans in a Sky uniform, but her current role does not reflect that commitment. While inserting Lindsay Allen into the starting lineup has improved the Sky’s performance, the move has come at the expense of Evans’ playing time. Questions remain whether Evans can fulfill her potential as a scoring point guard in Chicago. At this point, it remains unclear if Dana Evans’ future lies with the Sky. With her love for the city and its style of play, she stated that she needs to be on a team that provides her with the best opportunity for development. As the season progresses, Weatherspoon will ultimately decide if Evans can find that success in a Sky uniform.
LAS VEGAS — It appears guard Dana Evans’ time in Chicago is coming to an end.
Unless Sky can find a solution for her missing minutes.
Since former coach/general manager James Wade traded Evans in 2021, she’s been waiting for an expanded role with the franchise she grew up watching. A native of Gary, Indiana, Evans would often attend Sky games with her father, closely following point guard Courtney Vandersloot, who she would one day get the chance to learn from.
When Vandersloot left as a free agent in 2023, it appeared Evans’ time had come to prove she was capable of a starting role — until Wade traded guard Marina Mabrey and signed guard Courtney Williams as a free agent.
This season, no one stood in Evans’ way on the depth chart. But after 12 games as the Sky’s starting point guard, she was demoted to the bench. There are a number of questions as to why this happened, the most notable of which is the slow decline in her minutes, despite her production before the demotion.
Evans went from averaging nearly 30 minutes as a starter to 13.8 minutes as a substitute. More worryingly, she has played less than 10 minutes in five of the 11 games since moving to the substitutes.
So the question is, does Evans see a future in Chicago?
“I did,” Evans told the Sun-Times before Sky’s game against the Aces on Tuesday. “I really saw that as a possibility. I felt like this was a time to really take my game to the next level in Chicago. But now I don’t think they see that.”
Coach Teresa Weatherspoon made it clear that she sees
Evans will wear a Sky uniform for the long term, but the role she is now giving Evans does not match that belief.
Weatherspoon opted to insert guard Lindsay Allen into the starting five, favoring her pass-first style that has helped the Sky. She averaged 5.6 points and 4.5 assists for the game against the Aces.
In Evans’ 12 games as a starter, she averaged 10.3 points and 3.8 assists as the Sky went 4-8. The Sky were 5-6 entering Tuesday’s game since Allen became their starting point guard. But that’s not necessarily an indication that Evans is underperforming, but rather a reflection of Chennedy Carter’s
bigger role.
When Evans was first moved to a reserve role, the explanation Weatherspoon and general manager Jeff Pagliocca gave her was that they wanted her to score more. She said Tuesday that it didn’t make sense at the time, but she told herself, “Cheer up, I’m going to do what I have to do.”
After her playing minutes decreased from 15 to 20 to 5 to 10 per game, she had to decide whether Sky still wanted her.
“There’s still a lot of questions I can’t answer,” Evans said. “But I’m going to be professional and do my job. When my number is called, I’m ready.”
Evans is confident she can succeed as a scoring point guard. She specifically cited Storm guard Skylar Diggins-Smith as an example of how to be both a facilitator and a scorer. Her pre-demotion stats indicate she can do it.
At this point, Weatherspoon will decide whether Evans can find that success in a Sky uniform. Just over halfway through the season, she has shown more confidence in Allen’s pass-first style.
“I definitely see a lot of time for Dana here,” Weatherspoon told the Sun-Times, “especially sharing that time with Lindsay. Because Dana can bring so much more. She’s not just a point guard, she’s a shooting guard. She can shoot the ball and bring that to us, especially when we talk about the fact that we’re not a three-point-shooting team.”
Evans is beloved by Sky fans, a product of growing up close to the city and its style of play. But she was adamant that, despite her love for Chicago, she had to be with a team that would offer her the best
opportunity to develop yourself further.
At the moment it doesn’t look like Sky are that team.
