Chicago Sky Owner Calls Elena Delle Donne Trade a "Strong Possibility"

Chicago Sky owner Michael Alter said that there's "a strong possibility we'll be looking to trade" 2015 WNBA MVP and 2016 Olympian Elena Delle Donne in an interview with VICE Sports Monday.

Alter's comments come days after Delle Donne said that she's interested in moving to another team when she becomes a restricted free agent next month, and indicated a willingness to sit out until such a deal occurred.

Alter stressed that he was under no obligation to trade Delle Donne, but her desire to leave appears irreconcilable with the way he sees incoming coach and GM Amber Stocks building a champion: the Sky only want players who want to be in Chicago.

Asked point blank if it was his understanding that Delle Donne wanted to stay in Chicago, Alter replied, "I think where she is right now is that she wants to pursue other options."

It has already been a messy off-season in Chicago. The Sky fired their longtime coach and GM Pokey Chatman after six successful seasons, a run that included playoff appearances each of the past four years, a berth in the 2014 WNBA Finals, and a trip to the 2016 semifinals without Delle Donne, who had injured her thumb.

According to Alter, the decision to move on from both Chatman and Delle Donne had been on his mind long before the season ended, let alone Delle Donne going public with her desire to play elsewhere.

"This is something I've been thinking for quite some time, going back to last summer," Alter said, adding that the Sky had "gotten as far with Pokey as we could." (Chatman has since been hired as head coach for the Indiana Fever.) As for Delle Donne, Alter said, "ultimately, it was a decision our new coach and GM would be making." Alter would not say what happened last summer to precipitate this thought process.

Delle Donne, who declined to comment through her representatives, is a restricted free agent, and Alter pointed out that the Sky wouldn't simply fail to match an offer.

"No, because that would just be stupid," Alter said. "We would clearly not just let her go somewhere, but we would clearly try to trade her. If she's not going to be the right player for us in terms of buy-in, then we're going to look to trade her."

Alter said he'd been receiving inquiries about potential trades since Delle Donne went public with her wishes, but he stopped short of declaring the Delle Donne era in Chicago over.

"I don't want my comments to be misconstrued," Alter said. "We have made the decision that we are going to pursue the possibility of trading her. It doesn't mean that we are definitely going to be trading her. We're only to be making the trade if it's a good value for us. And if it isn't, we won't."

A Delle Donne unwilling to suit up for the Sky would not provide much value to the team, while a protracted process could complicate the team's ability to market itself, but Alter said that off-the-court considerations wouldn't play any part in a trade.

"Look, she's going to be a free agent," he said. "And she has certain rights that come with that. And we're going to each decide, are we better off together? Or are we better off apart? It's really simple in that regard. If you want to call it a resolution, fine, but to me, it's just a process to go through. And we're going to be focused on what is the best process for our team."