Chicago basketball report: Sky prepare for draft lottery — and Bulls’ Lonzo Ball returns to dribbling

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The Chicago Sky will finally learn their 2025 WNBA draft positioning on Sunday after the draft lottery, which will determine the order of the top four draft picks.

Standings in the draft lottery are determined by a team’s record over the past two seasons. The four teams with the worst records over that span earn lottery picks with odds weighted based on their final standing. The Los Angeles Sparks will have a 44.2% chance of earning the No. 1 pick; the Dallas Wings will have a 27.6% chance of landing it; and the Washington Mystics will have a 10.4% chance.

But the Sky have a zero percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick — even if their name is called last on Sunday. The Sky are locked into a pick swap with the Wings for this year’s lottery pick, meaning they will switch picks with Dallas if they earn a higher spot in the lottery. If the Sky get the No. 1 pick, they will send it to the Wings. But if they land a lower selection — for instance, receiving the No. 3 pick while the Wings receive No. 2 — that draft order will remain the same.

This means the Sky have no chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick, which is all but guaranteed to be used to draft UConn star Paige Bueckers. Technically this also means the Wings have a 45.4% chance of landing the top pick by combining their odds with those of the Sky, making Dallas the favorites to potentially land Bueckers.

The WNBA draft lottery will take place at 4 p.m. on Sunday with a live broadcast on ESPN. The WNBA draft is scheduled for April 14 and will be preceded by the Dec. 6 expansion draft to accommodate the league’s newest franchise, the Golden State Valkyries.

New Chicago Sky head coach Tyler Marsh ushers in another era: ‘We want to set trends’

Lonzo Ball returned to dribbling

Tuesday marked a slight step forward for Ball, who is sidelined again — this time with a sprained right wrist. Ball returned to dribbling on Tuesday after being allowed to remove his splint, which he wore for 10 days following the initial injury in an Oct. 28 game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Coach Billy Donovan said Ball has not experienced any setbacks and will not require surgery for the injury, but he is still experiencing some discomfort and soreness in his wrist. Ball will not play in Wednesday’s game against the New York Knicks and the Bulls have not set an estimated timeline for his return date.

Nick Martinelli named Big 10 Player of the Week

Northwestern junior Nick Martinelli earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors after the Wildcats split their first two games of the regular season.

Martinelli led the conference in scoring (29 points per game) and on the glass (12 rebounds per game) over that span. He tallied a career-high 32 points in a loss to Dayton on Saturday, providing more than a third of the Wildcats’ total scoring.

Illinois women’s basketball earned Top 25 ranking

After the Illinois men’s and women’s programs started the year unranked, the Illini women’s team climbed up into the Top 25 this weekend to earn a No. 23 ranking.

The promotion followed a resounding 83-74 win Thursday over Florida State, which came into the season ranked No. 19. The Illini — now 2-0 to start the season — have not been ranked in the Top 25 since the 2023 preseason.

Illinois joins six other Big Ten women’s teams with a Top 25 rank: USC (No. 3), UCLA (No. 5), Maryland (No. 11), Ohio State (No. 12), Nebraska (No. 21) and Oregon (No. 25). The conference will provide arguably the most difficult competition in the NCAA this year, cluttered with major stars like USC’s JuJu Watkins and UCLA’s Lauren Betts.

Conference play kicks off Dec. 8 for Illinois with a road game against Ohio State.

Boo Buie signed a two-way contract with New York Knicks

Northwestern all-time scoring record holder Boo Buie has a new home in the NBA. The former Wildcat signed a two-way contract with the New York Knicks on Thursday. A two-way contract allows a player to move between a franchise’s G League and first-team rosters, providing Buie with the opportunity to contribute in New York while also earning valuable playing time with the Westchester Knicks.

Buie went undrafted this spring and signed with the Phoenix Suns for the summer league, during which he averaged nine points and two assists per game. He originally signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Knicks in October, which allowed them to reserve his rights for the G League. After he was waived by the Knicks, he signed with the Westchester Knicks on Oct. 28, then was promoted to a two-way contract last week.

In five years with Northwestern, Buie forged the all-time scoring record (2,187 points) after averaging 19 points and five assists per game as a senior.

Number of the week: 6

After scoring, Bulls forward Patrick Williams slaps hands with guard Josh Giddey at the United Center on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Patrick Williams had his first double-double of the season in Monday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, recording 13 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. Notably, this is only the sixth time that Williams has recorded a double-double in his entire five-year NBA career.

The issue isn’t the scoring. Williams has averaged at least nine points per game for every season of his tenure with the Bulls. But the forward still struggles to make an impact on the boards, averaging only 3.9 rebounds last season and 4.2 rebounds per game for his entire career. Williams did not record a single double-double last season despite averaging 10 points per game.

Williams has seen a slight uptick in his rebounds this season, averaging 5.5 per game to trail only Nikola Vučević and Josh Giddey.

Week ahead: Bulls

Wednesday: @ New York Knicks, 6:30 p.m. (CHSN)
Friday: @ Cleveland Cavaliers, 6:30 p.m. (CHSN)
Sunday: vs. Houston Rockets, 6 p.m. (CHSN)

What we’re reading

Quote of the week

“Our first conversation she was like, ‘Man coach, I really don’t want to cut this conversation off short but I got to get ready for the Usher concert.’” — new Sky head coach Tyler Marsh on his first interaction with guard Rachel Banham

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