Eight months ago, Storm guard Jewell Loyd’s contract extension set in motion a WNBA free agency period that would see the Sky’s top targets — guard Skylar Diggins-Smith and forward Nneka Ogwumike — join her in Seattle.

Loyd had a list of desires that included the Storm adding an analytics team and a player-development staff, but one of her other priorities was a little less clearly defined. The way she expressed it, however, was an indictment on the Sky.

‘‘Basically, I wanted to take Chicago to Seattle,’’ Loyd told the Sun-Times in an interview this year.

On one side of the court Tuesday at Wintrust Arena was the team the Sky potentially could have put together. On the other was the one they did as a result of their former franchise player, Kahleah Copper, forcing a trade.

Copper’s decision was a consequence of the Sky’s failure to keep up with the Joneses. As was their ineffectiveness in luring any major free agents. Because if what Loyd wanted was to bring Chicago to Seattle, why not become an unrestricted free agent and sign with her hometown franchise?

‘‘[The Sky] are just one step away,’’ said Loyd, who played high school ball at Niles West. ‘‘Just one step. And the thing is, you want to root for them.’’

Loyd spends a large portion of her offseason in the Chicago area. Her mom is a Sky season-ticket holder. Her longtime trainer, Montay Robinson — who is now on staff with the Storm — is from Chicago.

But instead of allowing the Sky or any other team to woo her, Loyd signed an extension with the Storm in September. Months later, the Sky would be left picking up the pieces.

‘‘It was interesting to see [Loyd] signed back with the Storm, given the [rough] year they had [in 2023],’’ Ogwumike told the Sun-Times. ‘‘To me, that signaled they’re doubling-down on something.’’

Ogwumike did visit the Sky in free agency. She met with coach Teresa Weatherspoon, Copper and ownership. The family feel and sense of community was apparent, she said.

Her sense was that the Sky were piecing together the right people, but timing was a key factor in Ogwumike’s decision, and the Sky weren’t ready.

‘‘It came down to, OK, I don’t believe [what they’re saying] is not going to happen, [but] it’s a matter of when,’’ Ogwumike said. ‘‘This is Year 13 [for me]. I think I even said to [principal owner] Michael Alter, ‘If I was 26, we’d be having a very different conversation.’ ’’

Diggins-Smith said her reason for not signing with the Sky is ‘‘loaded.’’ Ultimately, it came down to the Storm’s ability to provide her family with all the resources they needed.

‘‘With the practice facility, the city maneuvering for us . . . and the fact I wanted to play with Nneka and Jewell,’’ Diggins-Smith said.

What the Sky are developing is undeniable. General manager Jeff Pagliocca was able to flip Copper’s trade request for the No. 3 pick in the WNBA Draft, which he used to select Kamilla Cardoso. He followed it up with two more predraft trades that secured the No. 7 pick, which he used to land Angel Reese.

Entering their game against the Storm, the Sky were 2-2. Their early flashes of success have been a result of Weatherspoon’s ability to get them to adopt her identity. It’s one that’s rooted in stepping up, never backing down and exhausting opponents defensively.

But the lack of a practice facility remains a problem for the Sky.

Before the draft, operating chairman and co-owner Nadia Rawlinson told the Sun-Times she hoped to have an announcement about a facility before the start of the season. That time has come and gone.

Pagliocca, however, was adamant in saying that ownership’s patience in its efforts to find the right facility doesn’t mean it isn’t a priority.