Rookie guard Hailey Van Lith looked exactly like the player the Sky imagined. In an early-season game against the Sun, Van Lith danced into the lane, floating shots over giants. She scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds in one of the team’s few wins of the season.

If only there had been more games like that.

Coming off an All-American college season — she stayed a fifth year to refine her game as a combo guard — Van Lith’s impact never fully took hold. Not that Chicago was a forgiving environment for a rookie. The Sky’s offense led the league in turnovers and lacked a true playmaker.

Still, there’s no way around it: Van Lith struggled. She shot just 16% from 3-point range and missed extended time with an ankle injury.

She finished the season frustrated, but not defeated.

“Sometimes it takes a couple years,” Van Lith said of her transition. “Whatever my journey is going to be is what it’s going to be. I’m going to fight for it to be as soon as possible, but whenever it comes, I have ultimate belief in my abilities.”

Two new teams, Portland and Toronto, enter the league in 2026 and will build their rosters in part by plucking players from existing franchises. That makes this a precarious moment for players like Van Lith, who have not yet carved out a role.

The Sky will be able to “protect” just five players from being drafted by expansion teams. Four slots appear locked in: core pillars Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso, 20-year-old prospect Ajša Sivka and two-time All-Star Ariel Atkins.

That leaves one spot. It could come down to Van Lith, the No. 11 pick in the 2025 draft, or Maddy Westbeld, taken No. 16. Both showed flashes as rookies. Neither season screamed “pick me.”

So what’s the upside case for Van Lith?

For general manager Jeff Pagliocca, it starts with her work ethic and getting healthy.

For many rookies, the adjustment is learning how to handle the pro workload. For Van Lith, it was learning when to stop. Van Lith is a certified gym rat. When her minutes dwindled, she’d head straight to the court or the weight room after games.

“As far as work ethic and fight and competitive nature, all those boxes remain checked from the player that we scouted hard in college,” Pagliocca told the Sun-Times by phone.

But Van Lith was not herself as a rookie, bogged down by nagging injuries. She underwent minor offseason ankle surgery to “clean some things up,” as she put it.

This offseason, Van Lith is training with Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 league featuring many of the game’s top players. She is part of the development pool, players who serve as injury replacements. Ironically, she still is not cleared to play.

The good news is her rehab is on track, and she is hopeful to get a chance to compete. If she does, the setting offers an opportunity to work on areas the Sky badly need. That starts with getting to the hoop.

The Sky were incapable of breaking down defenses off the dribble last season. Van Lith’s 16-point performance against the Sun showed she can do it. The question is whether she can do it consistently against better competition.

Then there’s the defense. At 5-foot-9, without standout athleticism, Van Lith risks becoming someone opponents hunt. The Sky cannot afford that. As much as they struggled to get into the paint, they were even worse at keeping opponents out of it.

“There’s always players that will be targeted by a good opposing coaching staff,” Pagliocca said. “You don’t want to be one of them. Sometimes that’s enough to make you put real time into it in the offseason and make it a priority mentally.”

In other words: Pagliocca believes her competitiveness will keep her afloat.

There may be no better place to test that than at Unrivaled. The defining feature of the 3-on-3 game is the absence of help defense. If you get beat off the dribble, no one is coming to save you.

That’s the challenge Van Lith faces this offseason. Do or die. Sink or swim.

Earn a place in the Sky’s future, or become part of an expansion draft.