WNBA: What to expect from Paige Bueckers’ debut season in Dallas

The 2024 WNBA season wasn’t very kind to the Dallas Wings. They finished the year with a 9-31 record, just one victory more than the league-worst Los Angeles Sparks.

Due to their lack of success, Dallas went through a complete rebuild during the offseason. They cleaned out their management, brought in a new general manager in Curt Miller and hired Chris Koclanes as their new head coach.

Then, one of the most significant moments in recent WNBA history happened when the Wings won the 2025 draft lottery, guaranteeing them the opportunity to draft generational talent Paige Bueckers. Miller, understandably, was ecstatic at that opportunity when he heard the news.

The Wings didn’t complicate things and drafted Bueckers No. 1 overall. Now, her era in Dallas will begin.

Enter Paige Bueckers

With training camp underway, Bueckers is quickly assimilating to Texas life. She was rocking the cowboy hat during her introduction to the franchise, and the only thing brighter than her future in the WNBA is the infectious energy she brings to the team.

Bueckers isn’t just sizzle, she’s the steak. She averaged 19.9 points, 4.6 assists and 4.4 rebounds in her final year at UConn, helping them win the national title.

It’s that level of play and limitless potential that has Miller saying she could be a 50/40/90 player in the WNBA. That would require her to shoot 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from deep and 90 percent from the charity stripe.

Whether she gets to those numbers or not, priority numbers one, two and three for the Wings will be to develop Bueckers and get her used to WNBA play. But, that begs one question…

How does Arike Ogunbowale fit?

Contention won’t happen overnight for the Wings. Last year, the Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark didn’t make it out of the first round of the playoffs, and the Chicago Sky couldn’t reach the playoffs, despite a strong season from rookie Angel Reese.

Dallas will be rebuilding while also trying to win games. Bueckers might be the most important player on the roster, but she still might not be the best. They have a superstar guard in Arike Ogunbowale, and she’s still one of the top players in the WNBA.

Last year, she averaged 22.2 points, 5.1 assists and 4.6 rebounds. Dallas wasn’t in many high-stakes games, but whenever Arike got a chance to showcase her ability, she did. In the 2024 WNBA All-Star game, she torched Team USA, scoring 34 points, dishing out six assists and winning the game 117-109.

She won her second WNBA All-Star MVP award, and Dallas named August 28 “Arike Ogunbowale Day” due to her performance.

So, how will the Wings combine her talent with that of Bueckers? On the one hand, it’s an exciting proposition. On the other hand, you have to manage egos and build chemistry, all while trying to build for the future and win in the present. These are hard and complicated things to manage simultaneously.

If Dallas can figure out how to get this dynamic “Parike” duo clicking, this year will not only be a success in terms of player development, but the team can also rack up wins. If not, things could be frustrating for the Wings.

Regardless of how it goes, the Wings will be a team every WNBA fan needs to watch. You have star power, the mystery of how good Bueckers will be and with so many talented teams to compete against, it’ll be fun to see how Dallas figures this all out.

They might not contend, but the Wings won’t be boring in 2025 and beyond.