It’s that time of year again.
Unrivaled has unveiled 46 names from its expanded 48-player roster, which includes a mix of household names and reliable role-players alike. Four All-WNBA First Team selections, along with numerous All-Stars, will highlight a revamped roster that will be paired with two new teams. Rookie sensation Paige Bueckers, who catapulted her way to stardom with the Dallas Wings this season, will be one of the multiple exciting new additions in the league’s second season.
Last year’s season featured plenty of players with unrivaled star power, including its two founders, Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. While it would be Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese and the Rose Basketball Club who would claim victory in the 3×3 league’s championship, it would be Collier who would prove victorious in the 1-on-1 tournament while leading the league with an astounding 25.7 points per game. Reese would end the season with the league’s Defensive Player of the Year as she played a key role for a Rose BC squad that overcame a 1-4 start and finished second in the league’s standings.
The Sky will be represented by a number of past players, including a former Finals MVP and multiple-time All-Star in guard Kahleah Copper and a fellow champion in forward Azura Stevens. Anything can happen before the league tips off on Jan. 5, but guard Rachel Banham, a confident shooter who took up lead guard duties for the Sky last season, will be the Sky’s only representative from their most recent campaign as of now.
Chicago entered with one rep and left with three last season as guards Courtney Vandersloot and Ariel Atkins teamed up with Reese and the Sky during a defining offseason for a squad in need of a long-term direction. Will Banham be the right fit to represent the sky blue and white heading into the second year of the innovative league?
Banham, who was acquired in a major 2024 trade with the Connecticut Sun, ended last season with averages of nine points and just under three assists per game. The 32-year-old ran reps at the one for the Sky as she became a full-time starter with 33 starts in 44 games played. While inconsistent as a shooter and scorer, she proved she could at least be a stopgap point guard on the Chicago squad that nearly ran out of options due to injuries and the waiving of guard Moriah Jefferson. Banham would end the year with a season-high 10 assists as she got into the groove of feeding her cutting teammates and placing the ball well enough for the Sky’s bigs to gain an advantage down low.
Banham was the embodiment of pure confidence when it came to her shot selections, which would ultimately leave her scoring performances up to the flip of a coin. Her gunslinger brand of ball was highlighted by a full month of averaging an astounding 43.2% from the 3-point line in July, which included some of her best scoring performances of the 2025 season. She would crash back down to Earth in her remaining 18 games, where a few solid scoring performances saved her from dropping further than just over 34% from the floor.
The Sky got into the habit of using the former Minnesota guard off screens when she wasn’t working on her own or as a spot-up option, which at least gave her some extra room to shoot if she did choose to heave it up from the arc.
In a faster-paced game with plenty of big-name competition to look out for, Banham’s quick trigger finger and recent run as a half-court and fast break orchestrator could make her a decent guard option if she’s paired up with solid cutters and bigs who could continue to make her a threat off screens. Agility, strength and smarts will be the name of the game for Banham’s frontcourt teammates, who will need to replicate the same kind of low-post action and screening partners she found some consistency with last season. Either way, it may be fun to watch the former first-rounder in a different format, especially if she can pair up with some of her former Minnesota Lynx or Connecticut Sun teammates.
