Ariel Atkins on ‘bittersweet’ trade from Washington Mystics to Chicago Sky

The best moment of Ariel Atkins’ seven-year run with the Washington Mystics is the most obvious one: Winning the 2019 WNBA championship.

A season before that win, the Mystics had been swept in the 2018 Finals by the Seattle Storm. After that loss, while sitting in the locker room of George Mason University, the team told themselves that they now knew what it takes to win it all, and that it was now time to “run it back,” Atkins remembered them saying.

The team followed up by having the No.1 offense and winning the most games in the league the next year. They met the Connecticut Sun in the Finals, where in Game 1 Atkins scored 21 points, snagged three steals and grabbed 5 rebounds, including a key offensive board late in the fourth quarter that helped solidify an eventual 95-86 win. The Mystics went on to win the series 3-2.

“It really just wasn’t about us winning that one game,” Atkins said. “The process of us losing to Seattle was what started that championship, and to be able to ride that entire thing all the way down to the end … it was an insane time.”

That time is now over after the two-time All-Star and Olympic gold medalist was traded on Feb. 23 from the Mystics to the Chicago Sky for the No. 3 pick in the 2025 draft, which turned into Notre Dame guard Sonia Citron. New Mystics general manager Jamila Wideman called the move “a clear reflection of our commitment to build toward a new era.”

The trade was “bittersweet” for Atkins. Washington became home for her over these years, somewhere she planted her roots. But at the same time, Atkins is looking forward to the unknown that awaits her on the Sky.

“I know what Chicago is trying to do, I know what we’re trying to build there,” she said. “And it’s not just for the now, it’s also for the future. And they want to compete at a high level and chase a championship and truly contend for a championship and to build an organization. I’m really excited about what they’re trying to do.”

In the weeks leading up to the trade, Atkins had heard rumblings about being moved but said the Mystics had not told her anything. But on the night of Feb. 23, while sitting in a hotel in Miami after being signed as a relief player in the Unrivaled 3-on-3 league days prior, Atkins got a call from her agent and the team saying she’d been dealt to Chicago. She immediately called her parents “just so they could be aware and not find out from an ESPN notification.”

Atkins said she initially didn’t have time to process the news because she needed to focus on Unrivaled. “I really didn’t know what to say or how to feel. I know they’re doing what’s best for them. That was a business decision on their end,” she said. “As a businesswoman myself, you gotta roll with the punches.”

Atkins knew she wanted to be a Mystic forever from the time she was drafted seventh overall in 2018. She’s naturally loyal and grew up admiring players like Kobe Bryant and Tamika Catchings, who stuck with one franchise their entire careers.

“It’s like, alright, this is what the greats do,” said Atkins, who has averaged 13.4 points and 3 rebounds for her career. “This is what I want to do.”

But even that loyalty has been tested over the years.

After winning the title in 2019, the Mystics’ repeat aspirations were dashed when the world shut down in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The WNBA season, which normally starts in May, was pushed back to July inside the “Wubble” at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Due to either health concerns, social stances, or free agency, Atkins was the lone starter from the last game of the 2019 Finals to return for the 2020 season. The team went 9-13.

Since 2019, the Mystics have either been bounced out of the first round (2020, 2022, 2023) or missed the playoffs entirely (2021, 2024). In that time, the team lost two-time league MVP Elena Delle Donne, 2019 Finals MVP Emma Meessema, and guard Natasha Cloud, the team’s heart and soul. “It was insane to go from having championship teams to not having your roster at all,” Atkins said.

The team finished below .500 the past two seasons (33-47) and started the 2024 season 0-12, the longest losing streak to start a season in franchise history. Last season’s roster was so plagued by injuries that on some game days Atkins didn’t know who would be in the starting lineup with her. The Mystics tied with the Dallas Wings (12) for the most starting lineups used in the league.

“Not making the playoffs is not acceptable,” Atkins said. “I just don’t think that’s OK.”

She had wavered over the years on whether to continue to re-sign with Washington, but chalks that up to what most WNBA players consider yearly. After the “Wubble” season, Atkins considered other options. “Not that I wanted to leave but you always have to think about that business-wise.” Instead, Atkins re-signed in 2021 and 2023.

Despite the struggles and losses over the last two years, Atkins hadn’t given up on the franchise. After the 0-12 start last season, the Mystics went 14-14 the rest of the way and were officially eliminated from the playoffs with just two days left in the regular season. “We’re just in a league where you can’t just count anybody out,” Atkins said.

In the Sky, Atkins sees a complete, versatile, and defensive-minded team that will need to build its chemistry and culture as the season progresses. She’s excited about playing with a true point guard in Courtney Vandersloot and twin towers Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese, the latter of whom she played with for the Laces in Unrivaled.

“She’s light years ahead of where she was in college,” Atkins said of Reese. “It’s been a year and a half.”

The Sky struggled with three-point shooting and defense last season, which Atkins can help to improve. The career 36% three-point shooter and fellow newcomers Rebecca Allen and first-round draft picks Ajša Sivka and Hailey Van Lith should improve a team that averaged the least amount of threes per game in 2024. Atkins averaged the 11th-most (1.5) steals per game last season and has been voted to the all-defense team five times (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022) in her career. For a unit that allowed the third-best shooting percentage (44.6%) last season, Atkins’ lateral movement, quick hands, and instincts will be a plus alongside Cardosa and Reese.

“I honestly want to give people hell on the defensive end,” Atkins said.

What Atkins will miss most about the Mystics are the employees and her teammates. She played with some players she admired: Delle Donne, Cloud, Tina Charles and Alysha Clark. Atkins was the final member of the 2019 championship team.

She’ll also miss the Washington community, which Atkins embraced by becoming a true DMVer (D.C., Maryland, Virginia). She purchased a home in Washington, came to love brunch and adopted the district’s driving habits.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Atkins said when asked if that meant she was a bad driver, like most of the drivers in the area. “I think it’s more of I know how to get to where I’m going. Let’s just say it like that.”

She launched an entrepreneurship program alongside the local Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and in 2023, Atkins’ foundation donated $25,000 to Washington public school teachers to help them buy classroom supplies.

“It’s the people more than anything,” Atkins said.