Analysis: How Does Alaina Coates Fit on the Chicago Sky?

All week we heard Nia Coffey. In a draft with question marks after Kelsey Plum, Coffey was considered most capable of replacing the irreplaceable Elena Delle Donne. She averaged 20 points and 10.4 rebounds per game for Northwestern this past season, and was thought to be a versatile forward who could play multiple positions. But just a few minutes after seven eastern, at the Samsung 837 center in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan, the Chicago Sky announced their selection of center Alaina Coates from South Carolina.

There was initial surprise on press row. The Sky just traded Delle Donne for the second pick and center Stefanie Dolson. They have one of the league’s best young centers in Imani Boyette. They drafted forward/center Cheyenne Parker two years ago as a project. They have Jessica Breland as insurance. On top of that, Coates just came off ankle surgery and her timeline to return is uncertain. So why pick a third straight center in the first round?

The immediate explanation was a potential trade. The logic made sense: Coates is probably the second best player in this draft, so why not take her and have maximum leverage to get multiple pieces back in a deal? Moreover, the Sky played well in the playoffs without Delle Donne, and have a well-balanced roster as it is. Ultimately, taking the best player available, rather than trying to replace Delle Donne, was justifiable.

As Coffey became available at the No. 5 spot, held by the San Antonio Stars, it was looking like this trade might play out. The Stars, who took Plum first, were in desperate need of size. They could flip Coffey, along with other pieces, for Coates or Dolson. The Stars would get a center. The Sky would get Coffey, and other pieces, as they try to stay competitive following the loss of their franchise player. But to the surprise of many involved, it fell through.

Now, the Sky, with new head coach and general manager Amber Stocks, must figure out how to juggle three centers that deserve playing time once Coates returns from the ankle surgery that will cost her at least part of the 2017 season.

Last season, some of the Sky’s best offensive units involved playing four perimeter threats together. Play four out of guards Allie Quigley, Courtney Vandersloot, Jamierra Faulkner, Cappie Pondexter and wings Elena Delle Donne and Tamera Young alongside Breland or Boyette, and the Sky had spacing that few WNBA teams could create.

Even without Delle Donne, an up-tempo, three-heavy offense makes sense for this group. They can run high pick and roll with Vandersloot and Boyette, with Quigley, Pondexter and Young on the wings and in the corners. Hedge out too far, and Vandersloot will hit Boyette on a rim run. Go under, and Vandersloot can shoot. Help off Quigley, and you give up a 3-pointer. Help off Pondexter or Young, and you’re vulnerable to an attack off the catch. As soon as the defense gets tired, you have Faulkner and rookie sharpshooter Tori Jankoska (38.5 percent from three her senior season) ready to continue the onslaught. But that strategy becomes difficult with three All Star-caliber centers eager for minutes.

One problem throughout former head coach and general manager Pokey Chatman’s tenure was not using smaller lineups. We rarely saw Delle Donne at the four or five surrounded by shooters, for instance.

Now, with Boyette, Coates and Dolson, the Sky are almost forced to play two of them at a time. This could clog the lane for Pondexter, Faulkner and Vandersloot, and make them slower defensively. It also raises questions as to why the Sky have gone after centers in three straight drafts, and haven’t gotten more out of their current frontcourt players.

Rotating three centers can work, but it means an entire shift in identity, playing a slow, inside-out game. Maybe that’s what Stocks wants to do. She came from the Los Angeles Sparks where bigs Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike coexisted on their way to the 2016 WNBA championship. But that comparison is flawed. Parker is essentially a point-forward who is comfortable on the perimeter and can shoot the three. Ogwumike is one of the most mobile and athletic forwards in the game. Coates and Dolson simply don’t have that mobility, and Boyette is best as a rim protector.

There was no way the Sky were going to draft a player that could give them even half of the production of Delle Donne. Thus, it’s hard to argue with taking Coates if they truly believed she was the best available. It gives them flexibility to still trade one of their centers, while simultaneously upgrading at the position. But if they don’t make a move, they will be overcrowded on the low block, on a team ripe with quick shooters looking for driving lanes and space.

Coates may turn out to be a franchise changing player for Chicago. And yet, in drafting a third straight center, and thus far not moving one, the Sky left New York with unanswered questions about their basketball identity.