The future of the WNBA’s Dallas Wings is the Dallas story to pay attention to in an otherwise sour moment for the city’s teams (except hockey; the Stars are at the top of their game).
From the moment the Wings captured the top selection in the WNBA’s draft lottery in November, the sweepstakes for Paige Bueckers landing in Texas grew exponentially. She has the skills on the court, set records as a player at UConn and fans love her. Meanwhile, nearly two months after documenting a 9-31 outing in 2024 — the second-worst finish in franchise history — Wings CEO Greg Bibb knew Dallas needed a change. Another bonafide star, generational talent and leader would help.
Luckily, the lottery ping pong balls fell in the Wings’ favor, putting Bibb in a position where he could continue to restructure a struggling franchise. While Buckers, herself, was focused on leading UConn to a national championship in her last year as a college athlete, Bibb had just hired former Connecticut Sun and Los Angeles Sparks coach Curt Miller to serve as the Wings general manager a week prior to the lottery. Bibb gifted Miller with that responsibility of hiring the Wings next coach, which included a promise to rebuild the team.
Bibb isn’t a stranger to eyeing talent. Even before this season, Dallas has held a top five draft selection in seven of the last nine years. Even more, since 2016, seven Dallas players have earned WNBA All-Rookie selections that include current Wings star Arike Ogunbowale. So, the chance for Dallas to draft a “generational talent” like Bueckers was never in doubt.
The 6-foot guard was this year’s most sought-after player in the draft. Prior to her right ankle and left ACL injuries in 2021 and 2022 respectively, Bueckers was on a record-setting pace.
Then there was the promise to pair her up with Ogunbowale, one of the most dynamic and most prolific scorers in the league. Bueckers and Ogunbowale, on paper, sound like a match made in heaven.
Despite all the hype from the sports world, Bueckers was humble about it. “I don’t see myself as a celebrity, I’m just a basketball player,” she told reporters following the Wings’ 112-78 preseason loss to the Las Vegas Aces on May 2 at Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion. Clearly, she’s keeping her focus on perfecting her craft rather than immersing herself in the hype of being one of the W’s next echelon of stars.
Kyrie Irving, star player for the Dallas Mavericks, congratulated her for joining the team and Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki also took notice. There was a lot of hype as the season got underway. The Wings lost, but it doesn’t mean their reputation is gone with it.
Already in three regular season games, it’s clear she’s destined for greatness.
Despite the losses, Bueckers’ poise and her decision making on the floor shows the continuity she’s building with her teammates.
Bueckers followed up her performance in the Wings’ 79-71 loss on Monday to the Seattle Storm — 19 points, five rebounds, eight assists, two steals and one block — with her first double-double affair — 12 points, 10 assists, three steals and two turnovers — of her career against the Minnesota Lynx in her return to her home state. Even more, the Wings’ rookie recorded her first assists of the season with Ogunbowale in the 85-81 loss to the Lynx, with three of her 10 including her first dime of the contest to the Wings’ all-time leading scorer.
She’s building chemistry with Ogunbowale as well as with other players and making split second decisions. Not every rookie is showing this potential. She nearly finished with double-digit assists that included a tightly contested bounce pass sliced in between the long arms of Storm star Nneka Ogwumike and Ezi Magbegor from the top of the key to DiJonai Carrington in the first quarter of the Seattle matchup.
And, we can’t forget about Bueckers’ full-court heave on a dime to NaLyssa Smith, giving NBA’s Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokić a run for his money in terms of who throws the better long distance passes. While her rookie debut didn’t mirror Caitlin Clark’s with the Fever — 20 points, three assists and two steals and 10 turnovers while shooting 33.3% from the floor — she’s made leaps in the last two games, delivering a statline indicative of a future WNBA star.
Clark didn’t earn her first double-double performance until her sixth game into the 2024 season. Bueckers accomplished the feat in half the time. When examining Bueckers’ first three contests of her career in comparison to Clark’s first trio of games as a rookie, Bueckers dished more assists than Clark (20-17), generated 33% fewer turnovers (seven to 21) while the Fever star added 10 more points (51-41).
Still, Clark, after more games and more comfort and continuity from games during the season, won the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year honors. If you had any qualms about the former UConn star after the first three regular season games, take a breather. Success doesn’t come overnight. Winning takes time, especially when a franchise undergoes an overhaul. Bueckers will be a star in the league, no question.
The Wings head coach Chris Koclanes was Miller’s former assistant in Connecticut and Los Angeles. Koclanes, despite eight seasons alongside Miller as a video coordinator, assistant and defensive coordinator with the Sun and Sparks, served as an assistant with Southern California before Miller plucked him from the Big Ten program. Coaching in college and the WNBA are different.
Then, add in that the Wings’ roster features nine newcomers with four as starters (Bueckers, Myisha Hines-Allen, Smith and Carrington) in conjunction with Ogunbowale, Maddy Siegrist and Teaira McCowan as the returners. Not to mention, Dallas fields one of the youngest teams this season as no player on the roster is currently 30, although that will change for Hines-Allen when she enters a new decade on May 30.
“We’re all learning and growing as a team,” Bueckers said after the Wings’ loss to the Storm. “… We’re not focused on a duo [Bueckers and Ogunbowale] [or] trio. We’re focused on one through 12 and how we look as a team.”
As Bueckers and the Wings gel on the court, the rookie guard will also be a catalyst in the continued growth of women’s basketball in Dallas. Vivid Seats recently released a WNBA loyalty report revealing that the Wings were the most sought-after franchise based on home ticket prices, an area that has increased by 74%, according to The Dallas Morning News. Bueckers also is already among the top players with the most popular WNBA trading cards.
Bibb envisions the Wings winning on the court as well as the Dallas community and the WNBA landscape benefiting from Bueckers’ arrival to the W, similar to what Clark did as a rookie in Indiana.
While the comparison of Clark and Bueckers to each other can be annoying to the players and fans alike, it is certainly a conversation that’s here to stay.
“Paige is certainly making a difference for us,” Bibb recently told The News. “Paige is her own person. … I think Paige will be additive for us just like Caitlin was additive for Indiana. And Paige will be additive for the league just like Caitlin was additive for the league.”
Everyone wants to see Buckers and Ogunbowale light up the scoreboard, produce thrilling highlights on social media and depart arenas with victories. The Wings’ rematch on Wednesday against the Lynx will provide another chance for Bueckers to show she’s ready for the moment and that she’s inching closer to helping the franchise secure wins.
Dallas and WNBA fans at large, here’s your reminder that the Wings’ success will come.
In the meantime, prepare to be patient. It will take some time.
