Former South Carolina women's basketball center Kamilla Cardoso started her professional career with high expectations. The Chicago Sky selected Cardoso with their third overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. Cardoso had a slow start to the season due to an injury but has started gaining her footing with the team. Have her early-season efforts with the Sky earned her a sound performance assessment?
Cardoso made her Sky debut against the Minnesota Lynx in a preseason game on May 3. She scored six points and grabbed four rebounds but only played 13 minutes due to a shoulder injury she suffered. The injury saw Cardoso miss several weeks and the official start to the regular season. However, she returned for the Sky's marquee matchup against the Indiana Fever on June 4, amassing 11 points and six rebounds. Since then, Cardoso has steadily improved and earned high praise from head coach Teresa Weatherspoon.
Through the first 18 games of the 2024 season, the 6-foot-7 center averages 8.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks. Cardoso may not be accumulating doubles-doubles at the rate of fellow Sky rookie Angel Reese, but she is well on her way.
Kamilla Cardoso is a promising work in progress
Grade: B
Cardoso has yet to tap into the dominance she displayed with the South Carolina women's basketball team, but there is plenty of time for her to grow. After building a stout foundation with the program, Cardoso took her game to an elite level during her senior year. She recorded collegiate career-high averages of 14.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, and shot .59 percent from the field along with 1.5 blocks.
Cardoso helped lead the 2023-24 Gamecocks to an impressive undefeated record and a national title against Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Sky have not seen the same success through the first half of Cardoso's rookie season, but she has done enough to help Chicago maintain the eighth-place spot in the WNBA playoff picture. Thus, she earns a B grade for her efforts through the season's first half.
Teresa Weatherspoon has noticed Cardoso's growth and made a bold declaration of the rookie's career trajectory.
“She is going to be one that you will talk about forever in this league. She will be known as one of the best bigs to play this game. You can mark that… She's easy to coach, and she's only going to get better,” Weatherspoon said of Cardoso, after the Sky's July 9 practice.
With improved efficiency and a more consistent defensive presence, there is no doubt Cardoso can fulfill Weatherspoon's prediction.
Cardoso, Sky look to keep improving
Teresa Weatherspoon outlined the next steps in Kamilla Cardoso's development shortly before the 2024 WNBA All-Star Break.
“She's getting the looks. Now it's about finishing,” Weatherspoon said before the Sky's July 7 Storm game. “It's about getting the position you want, getting to your spots and finding it. It's about strength and power under the basket, with the way post players are today. Getting to your spot, getting your base, and finishing with power.”
Cardoso is shooting 46.2 percent from the field through the season's first half. As Weatherspoon mentioned, she gets fair looks under the basket but finds it tough to finish sometimes. Her struggles are understandable considering the caliber of competition she has faced. Cardoso has laced up against the likes of former WNBA MVPs Nneka Ogwumike, Tina Charles, and former All-Stars like Jonquel Jones.
With time, Kamilla Cardoso's impact on the Sky will only increase. She and her team look to keep improving against stout professional competition.
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