ARLINGTON — Dallas belongs to Paige Bueckers.
That was made clear after common supervisor Curt Miller and the Wings entrance workplace chosen the UConn standout No. 1 total within the 2025 WNBA Draft.
Now, the query is whether or not backcourt star Arike Ogunbowale can be a part of Dallas’ future because the franchise rebuilds again right into a playoff crew.
The Wings will miss the postseason for the second consecutive 12 months and are approaching a fork within the street: go all-in on the youth motion with a roster that already consists of 4 rookies and 4 gamers with simply two years of WNBA service or re-tool the roster in an upcoming highly-anticipated 2026 free company interval that’ll have practically each veteran — together with Dallas’ Ogunbowale, DiJonai Carrington and Myisha Hines-Allen — as unrestricted free brokers.
“Yeah, look, it is a big step. The best teams have all the experience and the most talent on it, but this a talented team, but they’re very young. And then it’s kind of them growing together,” Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello stated whereas talking of Dallas’ present scenario earlier than Monday’s defeat.
Brondello’s 2022 Liberty crew attracts some comparisons to the present Wings squad: a brand new head coach (Brondello & Chris Koclanes) main a No. 1 total decide (Bueckers & Sabrina Ionescu) on roster blended with veterans and development-ready younger gamers.
After praising a few of Dallas younger gamers, Brondello stated “So I think it’s just them building around Paige — obviously that’s the way to go, but they’re making sure what’s the best system for the players that they do have.”
The reply was a lot clearer just a few weeks in the past.
With Ogunbowale within the midst of her worst WNBA marketing campaign and her first All-Star Sport snub since 2021, a departure from Dallas appeared cheap — particularly along with her three-year deal set to run out on the finish of the season.
She’s recording career-lows in factors per recreation (16.1), field-goal makes an attempt (14.5), field-goal proportion (36.9) and three-point proportion (32.4). That is coming off a 2024 WNBA season when she averaged 22.2 factors per recreation, on 19.2 pictures whereas capturing 38.3% from the sector and 34.6% from downtown. She was named to the All-WNBA Second Group and chosen to her fourth consecutive All-Star Sport.
In the meantime, Bueckers obtained accustomed to WNBA life and shortly thrust herself into the All-Star Sport whereas jockeying with Washington Mystics kids Sonia Cintron and Kiki Iriafen for Rookie of the 12 months.
Buckers supplanted Ogunbowale as Dallas’ All-Star consultant whereas averaging 18.2 factors and 5.5 assists whereas capturing 45.5% from the sector and 33.8% from deep.
However Ogunbowale’s current stretch has many in Dallas believing the tandem might work.
Bueckers shined towards the Liberty too, recording 20 factors, six rebounds, 4 assists and three steals. And within the stretch of Ogunbowale’s greatest play of the season, the previous Husky didn’t falter: 17 factors, 5.3 assists, 3.7 rebounds and a couple of.7 steals.
“It’s a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. And I think anyone can tell you, in any league, you go through the growing pains of having to just figure it out, and it’s all kind of part of the process, and so to see how they continue to fight and play in every game,” Ionescu stated. “Obviously, they’re a super talented team, and they’re just young, and it takes a little while to figure it out, but I think everyone has the utmost confidence that they have the right pieces and the right players here to be able to do that at some point.”
Even with a winter free company frenzy looming, hitting on one other draft decide might do wonders for Miller’s entrance workplace.
WNBA lottery odds are decided by the cumulative information of non-playoff groups from the earlier two WNBA seasons. Getting into Wednesday, the Wings personal the worst two-year file (17-50) and the perfect proportion to land the No. 1 total decide. Precise draft odds with a new-five crew lottery for 2026 are presently unknown.
These odds, although, will put the Wings in play for UCLA’s Lauren Betts, who’s the highest collegiate middle and presumptive No. 1 decide on mock drafts. A union with Bueckers and Betts might arrange a solidified frontcourt-backcourt tandem for the foreseeable future.
Then there’s a flurry of prime guards to select from — Bueckers’ former UConn teammate Azzi Fudd, TCU’s Olivia Miles, South Carolina’s Ta’Niya Latson and LSU’s Flau’Jae Johnson.
Initially Printed: July 29, 2025 at 1:20 PM EDT
