For two consecutive years, the Dallas Wings held the most valuable asset in the WNBA Draft. In 2025, they chose Paige Bueckers first overall. One year later, after winning the draft lottery for a second time, Dallas selected Azzi Fudd first overall.
That kind of opportunity doesn’t come around often, but WNBA history does show how transformative it can be. Seattle went with first overall picks in 2001 and 2002, grabbing Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird, a pair that powered the Storm to their first championship back in 2004.
Over a decade later the Storm did it again, with Jewell Loyd in 2015 and Breanna Stewart in 2016. They went on to win WNBA titles in both 2018 and 2020.
Vegas ran the same playbook, taking A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young with consecutive number one picks in 2018 and 2019. Both of them turned into cornerstone pieces for their back-to-back championship runs. Vegas also had Kelsey Plum, who was chosen first overall in 2017 by the San Antonio Stars which later became the Las Vegas Aces.
Dallas is now in the same kind of rare territory. While selecting Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd in back-to-back drafts by no means guarantees the same outcome for Dallas as the other franchises, history has shown the possibilities that could happen when a team gets access to high-end youth talent and makes it a deliberate part of their core building plans.
The difficult part is no longer finding the talent, it’s deciding how fully to build around it.
For Dallas, the phrase “building around Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd” should mean more than just keeping both of them on the roster or putting them in the starting lineup. It should mean establishing an offensive hierarchy where their growth comes first, giving them the ball enough to grow together and designing actions that maximize their individual strengths.
What matters more though, is that Dallas builds the roster around Bueckers and Fudd rather than expecting them to bend around everyone else. The supporting roster should fill in gaps and complement what Bueckers and Fudd already do well, not compete with them for the same role.
With Bueckers as the obvious franchise point guard, Dallas would have little reason to acquire another primary point guard expecting to control the offense for major minutes. The same positional logic should eventually inform the conversation at shooting guard.
Fudd was selected number one because Dallas saw enough value to invest the most important pick in the draft in her, and her rookie season gave the organization even more evidence that her role should continue to grow.
But because of the timeline Dallas is operating on, the development of Bueckers and Fudd shouldn’t be treated like an open-ended project.
Thirty Games Were Enough to Show Something
Fudd’s rookie season ended up lasting only 30 games, after ongoing right knee soreness led to an arthroscopic procedure that would require her to sit the remainder of the season. Even in that shortened season, she produced a statistical profile that was much more broad than the “shooter” label that followed her into the league.
She finished with 393 points, 62 made threes, 52 steals and 25 blocks while shooting 45.6 percent from the field and 39.7 percent from three. She averaged 13.1 points despite spending her first six games coming off the bench and playing much of the season as the third highest usage guard in Dallas’s offense.
Her shooting immediately translated like everyone knew it would, but not only from the arc. HoopsJunkie charted Fudd at 51.7 percent from the midrange on 45 of 87 shooting. Among other WNBA players who appeared in at least 30 games and attempted at least one midrange shot per game, that was the best percentage in the league.
That efficiency is important because Fudd’s value is sometimes reduced to the gravitational effect of her three point shot, but her rookie season suggested something more complete. Fudd herself even spoke in an early media session on May 18 after a game against the Washington Mystics. She said, “I know I’m a good three-point shooter. People like to limit me to that but I’m more than just that.”
And she is. She could punish defenses from deep, attack aggressive closeouts, score efficiently from the middle of the floor and finish around the basket. And with that, she started accumulating records pretty quickly.
Fudd became the first rookie in the WNBA to win the league’s Three-Point Contest. She finished the season with 62 made threes, breaking the previous Dallas rookie franchise record of 57.
She also became the fastest rookie in Wings franchise history to reach both 350 points and 50 made three-pointers, completing both by her 27th game. Ogunbowale, the only other Wings rookie to reach both accomplishments, completed the combination by her 30th game.
Against the New York Liberty on May 24, Fudd made six three-pointers, setting a Dallas franchise rookie record for threes made in a single game. Five of those threes came in the third quarter alone, establishing a WNBA rookie record for three-pointers in a single quarter. She also scored 17 points in the third, tied for the second-most by a rookie in a quarter in league history.
Her shooting production wasn’t limited to isolated explosions, either. Fudd joined Caitlin Clark as the only WNBA rookies since 1998 to make at least three three-pointers in five consecutive games.
And we haven’t even discussed Fudd’s defensive production yet.
Fudd became the fastest guard in WNBA history to reach 25 steals and 15 blocks, doing so in only 16 games. Through her first 20 career games, she recorded the most combined steals and blocks by a guard since the league began in 1997.
Over one 20-game stretch, Fudd became only the second rookie in WNBA history to produce at least 35 made threes, 35 steals and 20 blocks. The first? Tamika Catchings.
That is not an insignificant stat to mention. Catchings continued on in her career to become one of the most defining two-way players in WNBA history: an MVP, five-time Defensive Player of the Year, WNBA champion and eventual Basketball Hall of Famer.
And that stat isn’t about trying to compare Fudd to Catchings or predict how her career will ultimately go. It’s about identifying just how rare that production was. Catchings reached that combination of three pointers, steals and blocks as a bigger two-way forward, while Fudd hit the same rookie benchmark from the guard position.
Looking at the full scope of Fudd’s rookie season changes the context completely around her 13.1 points per game average. Dallas didn’t just draft a floor spacer, they got a rookie who set franchise shooting records, scored efficiently from multiple positions and produced historically unusual defensive numbers for a guard.
Now, Dallas has to decide how central Fudd’s development will be to its plans moving forward.
Her Role Was Still Expanding
Fudd’s season started out completely different than how it ended.
She came off the bench in all six of her first games and during that stretch, she averaged 23:49 per game, 11.0 points and only 8.0 field-goal attempts. Across her 24 starts, those numbers increased to 33:38 per game, 13.6 points and 12.3 attempts.
Some of that increase is simply the natural consequence of playing more minutes, but it also shows how limited Fudd’s early opportunities were and how much more Dallas began to see as her role expanded.
The Wings didn’t exactly seem to enter the season with an aggressive plan to feature their number one pick. The decision to have Fudd come off the bench quickly became a point of discussion among fans and media as she continued to produce efficiently in a reserve role.
High Post Hoops questioned the approach as early as the season opener, arguing that Dallas had “passed on the chance to immediately showcase its top pick on the biggest stage.”
The debate only intensified after Fudd’s breakout game against the New York Liberty on May 24. She scored 24 points in 32 minutes off the bench and tied Bueckers for the team lead in scoring. She ended up starting the second half, logging more minutes than several starters.
When asked after the game if Fudd was ready to join the starting five, Jose Fernandez, the new Dallas Wings head coach, said they were “headed in that direction,” but still stopped short of committing to the change. Four days later, Fudd finally made her first start against the Las Vegas Aces and ended the game with 22 points on a 9 of 15 performance.
That uncertainty about her role early on in the season is part of why Fudd’s development matters so much in any discussion about the future of the Dallas Wings. The Wings did eventually expand her responsibilities, but the first few weeks showed how easily even a number one pick can be asked to adapt to an existing structure rather than having that structure intentionally shaped around her strengths.
And as her role continued to grow, so did the evidence. On June 22 in Seattle, Fudd scored a then-career-high of 26 points on 11 of 17 shooting, along with Bueckers scoring 27 points which led the team to a 112-110 overtime win. Those types of games weren’t proof that Dallas had suddenly discovered a perfect offensive formula, but they definitely were evidence that there was more to explore.
And the most compelling part of all of it was not just Fudd’s individual scoring, it was the connection already forming between both of Dallas’s number one picks.
Paige and Azzi Were Already Building Something
The best way to explain why Bueckers and Fudd fit together is shooting.
Bueckers is typically asked to be the primary ball handler for Dallas, but her game is versatile enough to succeed on both sides of the ball. Fudd’s efficiency makes her a threat from pretty much anywhere on the floor, which means defenses can’t comfortably leave her open or over commit elsewhere without being punished. That pressure creates more room for Bueckers to operate while also giving Dallas another player in Fudd who’s capable of attacking, scoring and creating within the flow of the offense.
Dallas also didn’t draft Fudd just hoping that a partnership with Bueckers might work. There was already a long track record behind it. The two competed together with USA Basketball as teenagers, winning gold medals at the U16 and U17 levels. They later shared the backcourt at The University of Connecticut. Their final season together, UConn went 37-3 in the regular season with an 18–0 conference record, culminating in an NCAA National Championship.
By the time Dallas reunited them professionally, the Wings were not starting from scratch. They were building on a duo that had already won together at multiple levels. What Fudd’s rookie season gave Dallas was professional level evidence that the connection could continue to translate beyond college.
According to Her Hoop Stats, Bueckers directly assisted 47 of Fudd’s made field goals across her 30 games. Twenty-six of those were two-point baskets and 21 were threes, producing 115 points.
That means Bueckers assisted 30.1 percent of Fudd’s 156 made field goals and 33.9 percent of her 62 made threes. Nearly 30 percent of Fudd’s total rookie scoring came on baskets directly assisted by Bueckers.
Also, Fudd assisted 15 Bueckers baskets for another 34 points. Combined, the two guards assisted one another on 62 field goals worth 149 points.
Those numbers demonstrate more than a one-way connection. Bueckers remained Dallas’s primary ball handler, but Fudd showed she could advance the ball, initiate action and create opportunities for Bueckers when the offense called for it.
That type of versatility gives Dallas another way to use both guards, and it’s something that the Wings only tapped into briefly during Fudd’s rookie season rather than making it a consistent part of her role.
Developing that secondary creation should be one of the next steps in the backcourt’s growth. It wouldn’t require changing the basic structure of the offense, but it would give Dallas another option to allow Bueckers to occasionally benefit from her own effectiveness away from the ball.
The June 11 game against the Phoenix Mercury showed exactly what that could look like.
Phoenix Showed The Variety
Dallas beat Phoenix 85-70 that night. Bueckers scored 31 points and Fudd scored 17 while also contributing four assists, three steals and a block.
Out of those points between them, seven baskets were a direct result of their synergy. Bueckers assisted Fudd four times and Fudd assisted Bueckers three. In total, those possessions produced 15 points.
But the box score only gives you so much information, the eye test really revealed exactly how those assists happened.
Early in the first quarter, Fudd stole the ball from Alyssa Thomas and immediately pushed pace up the floor. With a defender between her and the basket, Fudd was able to find Bueckers around the defense for a 14-foot transition bucket.
Only about a minute later, Bueckers began off ball moving around the perimeter. She cut toward the middle of the floor and Fudd saw the movement, delivered the pass, and Bueckers spun around her defender into a fadeaway jumper.
Then it continued in the opposite direction. Bueckers brought the ball up while Fudd worked around her defenders toward the left side of the perimeter. Bueckers found her on the wing and rather than settling for the outside shot, Fudd sidestepped her defender, attacked the opening and finished at the rim with an open layup.
In the third quarter, Fudd again brought the ball down the court while Bueckers moved from the left side toward the free throw line. Fudd instantly found her with a bounce pass and Bueckers converted with an 18-foot midrange shot.
Later after Jessica Shepard attacked the rim and was met by three defenders, she passed the ball out to Bueckers in the corner, who found Fudd at the top of the arc. The defender closed hard to take away the three, but Fudd read the closeout, moved past her and easily converted from 15 feet.
Another later possession illustrated their shared connection even more. Fudd set a screen for Bueckers, who decided to reject it and turn in the opposite direction. The defender remained with Bueckers and Fudd was able to immediately recognize the opening. She turned back and cut toward the rim and Bueckers delivered the pass underneath for the easy layup.
Their final assisted connection came in the fourth quarter. Fudd began near the right baseline and worked her way up toward the wing while Bueckers controlled the ball. Rather than rushing the pass, Bueckers waited for Fudd’s movements to develop. She anticipated where she would arrive and delivered the ball seamlessly into Fudd’s shooting pocket, allowing Fudd to catch it in rhythm and knock down a 25-foot three pointer.
Those types of possessions demonstrate how well Bueckers reads Fudd’s movements. She didn’t just react once Fudd became open, she anticipated and delivered the pass on time and on target, knowing that it only takes Fudd a split second to release the ball.
Six of the seven baskets that Fudd scored that night were two pointers, and that’s an important detail because it illustrates just how much more that partnership can become than a point guard feeding a stationary three-point shooter.
Fudd was screening, cutting, attacking closeouts and creating in transition while occasionally initiating possessions. Bueckers was finding her at the rim, from midrange and from three. Both of them were reading the defense and reacting to one another.
That is what Dallas should be prioritizing…the opportunity to give both players more ways to influence possessions while keeping hierarchy clear.
Building Around Them Has To Mean Something
The phrase “build around Paige and Azzi” becomes pretty meaningless if it just means that Dallas intends to employ both of them.
Building around Bueckers and Fudd should mean more. It’s about being intentional about the kinds of players you put around them. The goal should be to bring in players that complement their strengths. This includes size, defense, rebounding, screening, passing and finishing in a way that doesn’t require Bueckers or Fudd to shrink their own roles to complement others.
This is where the Arike Ogunbowale conversation becomes unavoidable, and it’s not because she’s a bad basketball player (she’s definitely not). But she is a high-volume scorer and ball dominant shooting guard who has spent most of her career carrying a large share of Dallas’s offense.
With Fudd occupying the same position and needing room for her own role to grow, Dallas eventually has to decide how much of that offensive responsibility can be divided between them without limiting one of its core young pieces.
The Three-Guard Lineup Wasn’t All Bad
For much of the season, at least until Azzi was listed out for the season, Dallas consistently ran a three-guard lineup consisting of Bueckers, Fudd and Ogunbowale. The available numbers don’t actually support the simple statement that Dallas was worse when those three shared the floor.
According to PBPstats, across the sample I examined in games when all three were available, that trio played 602 minutes together. Dallas posted a 113.96 offensive rating and 107.59 defensive rating, producing a +6.37 net rating. That is a successful set of minutes.
There were even individual lineup configurations that showed using all three guards performed relatively well. That matters because any serious analysis has to acknowledge that it wasn’t all bad, and the case for building around Bueckers and Fudd doesn’t require you to pretend that Ogunbowale can’t contribute to winning basketball.
But the three guard lineup’s success doesn’t answer the full organizational question.
When Bueckers and Fudd played together with Ogunbowale off the floor, Dallas posted a 122.42 offensive rating across 172 minutes, with a +8.39 net rating. The offense was admittedly more productive in that sample.
That comparison isn’t everything though, since opponents change, teammates change and game situations change. Removing one player from a lineup table isn’t always the full reason that the numbers change. What that sample does establish though, is that Dallas has enough evidence to justify exploring Bueckers and Fudd as a traditional two-guard foundation.
The other pairings I looked into provide some additional context. Bueckers and Ogunbowale without Fudd posted a -1.67 net rating while Fudd and Ogunbowale without Bueckers were at -5.95. Those samples were much smaller since they only played limited minutes in those particular lineups, but they reinforced what we already knew. Bueckers is the engine that the offense should be structured around.
These numbers were particularly revealing because it suggests that Fudd’s limited usage was not simply the result of Ogunbowale taking shots away from her. It was also a result of how Dallas chose to structure its rotation. The Wings remained heavily committed to the three-guard lineup, which often placed Fudd as the third guard in a more wing-oriented role rather than allowing her to operate in her natural position as shooting guard alongside Bueckers at point.
Even when Ogunbowale left the floor, Dallas was subbing in another guard like Odyssey Sims or Azaiah James to fill those minutes.
I think that distinction matters a lot because Fudd’s usage staying relatively low without Ogunbowale should not automatically be interpreted as evidence that she was incapable of handling a larger role. Dallas largely kept Fudd within that same structural role, and if the Wings want to find out how much more Fudd can offer, changing which guard shares the floor with her will not be enough.
That’s going to mean giving her more opportunities at her natural shooting guard position, involving her intentionally in actions rather than primarily using her as the third guard away from the ball, and then continuing to develop that secondary creation we talked about from the Phoenix game.
Personnel matters, but so does coaching. Fudd has already shown that her game can support a larger role, so Dallas just has to build an offensive structure that actually allows her to occupy one.
Questions About Hierarchy and Timeline
Ogunbowale has spent years carrying Dallas’s offense. She’s been an All-Star, an elite shot creator and the face of the Wings through various versions of the franchise. The question has never been whether Ogunbowale is great, and nothing about her history disappears simply because Dallas drafted Bueckers and Fudd, but the arrival of back-to-back number one picks does change the question.
Going into 2027, Ogunbowale will be in her ninth WNBA season. Fudd will be entering her second. That doesn’t necessarily make one player more valuable than the other but it does mean that Dallas is dealing with two very different timelines. Are Bueckers and Fudd going to be given the opportunity to become great, or will they always be sidelined to prioritize Ogunbowale and her style of play/performance?
If Fudd were just a young bench prospect, then maintaining the existing offensive hierarchy would be easier to understand. But Dallas selected her first overall, then watched her set franchise rookie shooting records, produce historically unusual defensive numbers for a guard, and immediately develop a statistical connection with its franchise point guard.
The playoffs this year gave one more look at the question Dallas will have to answer about its backcourt. In the three playoff games, Ogunbowale’s usage rate was 37.3 percent, compared to 21.8 percent for Bueckers. Ogunbowale logged 101 minutes, and shot 51 field goals and 30 free throws. Bueckers shot 37 field goals and 15 free throws in 107 minutes.
Those numbers are not a reason to argue against Ogunbowale as a player. If anything, they prove what we already knew about her all along. She can knock down tough shots, shoulder a heavy scoring burden, and play the go-to role in big moments when asked to do so, like she did while putting up 45 points against Golden State in Game Two. But, the Golden State defense did also offer up some opportunities for Dallas to play to the strengths they had. When Bueckers started drawing multiple defenders with Ogunbowale being left a little more open, Bueckers made the smart decision to give her the ball rather than take a shot she was unlikely to make.
Bueckers’ usage numbers only tell part of the story here though, because there’s a difference between her having the ball because she’s the primary ball handler and Dallas intentionally creating scoring opportunities for her. From watching the postseason games, it was clear that very few possessions existed where the team ran specific plays designed to get her open, or set screens designed to help her get better shots. Most of the offense she generated for herself had to be self-created, while Ogunbowale more often became the player Dallas looked toward to finish possessions.
That dynamic can work on a night when Ogunbowale is getting good looks and making them consistently, but it also reinforces a pattern that Dallas saw at different points throughout the season. Bueckers and Ogunbowale were capable of producing in the same game, but many of their biggest individual performances came when the other occupied a smaller offensive role and deferred to the other. When the offense tilted heavily toward Ogunbowale, Bueckers often attempted fewer shots and had fewer opportunities to establish her own scoring rhythm.
None of that suggests that Bueckers should stop looking to feed an open teammate or to force her own shots just to maintain her numbers. Her willingness to read the defense, exploit what it gives her and make the right basketball play is part of what makes her so great. At the same time, if the offense keeps putting Bueckers in a position where she’s the one making sacrifices because she’s willing to make the right read, does Dallas eventually risk under developing the player it says is the future?
That question becomes even more relevant when Fudd returns, because a huge part of what makes her such a natural long-term fit next to Bueckers is that her offense does not require Dallas to constantly shift control between two ball-dominant guards. Her shooting, movement, ability to attack closeouts and efficiency allow her to score within the flow of an offense while still possessing the versatility to create when the opportunity is there.
Both Bueckers and Fudd are willing to play within an offense without requiring every possession to run through them. That should be a positive for Dallas, not an excuse to make them the ones always giving up possessions.
At some point, Dallas has to decide where they’re going next. Can all three play together? Sure. The numbers from 2026 would say yes.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean that all three need to occupy the same roles, or even start together, in order for Dallas to maximize them. One possibility would be using Ogunbowale in more of a reserved role, allowing her to have stretches where the ball can remain in her hands and her scoring instincts can be emphasized without deferring to anyone else.
A move like that could give Dallas another way to use Ogunbowale’s strengths while creating clearer development space for Bueckers and Fudd as the starting backcourt. Of course, that kind of change would require a little buy-in from both the coach and Ogunbowale herself. The idea isn’t completely unfounded, though. Ogunbowale came off the bench for Mist BC during her 2026 Unrivaled season and that team went on to win the championship with Ogunbowale contributing 19 points off the bench in the final.
I guess the biggest question in this hypothetical would be whether the coaching staff in Dallas would be willing to make that kind of adjustment if they truly believed it would better serve the team’s long term success.
There’s also a broader roster conversation at play here. Awak Kuier is set to become a restricted free agent in 2027, which means other teams will have the chance to offer her a contract that Dallas would have to match in order to keep her. After a season where she emerged as one of the league’s most productive young rim protectors and set multiple Wings blocking records, it’s not difficult to imagine there will be significant interest in her.
Redefining Ogunbowale’s role could help on the court, but eventually moving her contract could create additional financial flexibility and cap space they may need for the future. Either way, if Dallas wants to contend for championships, they’re going to have to weigh loyalty against the opportunity to preserve a young core whose timelines align much more closely with Bueckers and Fudd.
Dallas Is Already On The Clock
There is another reason this decision carries urgency and it’s Bueckers’ contract timeline. Her rookie deal expires after the 2028 season. D Magazine recently described that expiration as part of a “limited-but-consequential-window” for the Wings, arguing that if Bueckers eventually leaves Dallas, the franchise risks losing much of the momentum it’s been working so hard to create since her arrival.
D Magazine reported that Dallas averaged 1.2 million viewers per national broadcast in 2025, up 41 percent from the previous season, while its average local television audience increased 411 percent. The publication connected much of that growth to Bueckers’ arrival and her mainstream profile.
After going 9-31 in 2024, they finished Bueckers’ rookie season in 2025 with a 10-34 record. But they finished out the 2026 season with a league high turnaround of 17 more wins, setting them at a 27-17 record for the 2026 season.
Suddenly, Dallas has something it’s been trying for years to capture: young stars, increased attention, a growing audience, and tangible competitive momentum. That makes the next few years particularly important for Dallas.
Bueckers has won at essentially every level available to her, culminating in a national championship her final year at UConn before becoming the number one pick in 2025. She has also been constantly vocal about the importance she places on winning.
No one knows what Bueckers will ultimately decide when her rookie contract is up, but Dallas should spend the next few years making the case for why she should want to stay. The best way to do that is by showing her the franchise can build a real contender around her, with a young core that can grow alongside her and provide some actual roster continuity from year to year.
Fudd fits that timeline perfectly.
The Ages Line Up
As Dallas looks ahead to the next few seasons, Bueckers is 24. Fudd is 23. Awak Kuier is 25. That gives the Wings three high-upside players at nearly identical points in their career.
Bueckers is already the centerpiece. Fudd is a number one pick whose rookie season suggested significantly more potential than her eventual 13.1 point average suggested. Kuier, originally drafted second overall by Dallas in 2021, gives the Wings a 6’6” frontcourt player whose size and defensive versatility offer a very different kind of upside.
Dallas doesn’t need to necessarily rush into short-term roster construction built entirely around older veterans in an attempt to make one immediate run. They have a chance to build something that allows them to have a competitive window that overlaps with Bueckers’ prime, rather than just overlapping with the first few years of it.
A Bueckers-Fudd-Kuier core would give Dallas their best basketball years, not simply help bridge the franchise to whatever comes next. The roster around them should reflect that possibility.
Veteran players can and should be part of the future as complementary pieces, but the offensive hierarchy should still reflect what Dallas is actually building toward, with Bueckers and Fudd at the center of it.
Dallas Has To Learn How To Keep What It Drafts
This is a topic that becomes particularly important when you look at the draft history. From 2023 to 2026, the Wings made 15 draft selections.
In 2023, they selected Maddy Siegrist, Lou Lopez Sénéchal, Abby Meyers, Ashley Joens and Paige Robinson. In 2024 came Jacy Sheldon, Carla Leite and Ashley Owusu. THe 2025 class included Bueckers, Aziaha James, Madison Scott, JJ Quinerly and Aaronette Vonleh. In 2026, Dallas selected Fudd and Zee Spearman.
As of the current roster, only four of those 15 selections remain with the Wings: Siegrist, Bueckers, James and Fudd.
A little context is needed, though. WNBA rosters are notoriously difficult to make. There are limited roster spots, which means later round picks frequently don’t stick and not every player drafted should reasonably be expected to become a long term franchise piece.
But Dallas’s turnover has not been restricted entirely to long-shot draft picks. They have repeatedly moved on from young players who later became significant contributors elsewhere.
Allisha Gray, whom Dallas had drafted and developed into one of the league’s better two-way guards, was traded to Atlanta in 2023. Veronica Burton was waived by Dallas in May 2024 and has since grown into a major part of Golden State’s backcourt. Carla Leite, Dallas’s 2024 first-round pick, was left unprotected in the 2024 expansion draft and selected by the Golden State Valkyries, then later chosen by Portland in the next expansion draft.
If you watch the WNBA, then you know that these names are not examples of players who simply disappeared from the league. They are players who became useful and in some cases, highly impactful pieces on other teams.
That doesn’t mean every decision Dallas made in the past was the wrong one, but it does point to a broader pattern that the Wings have often acquired young talent without establishing the kind of stable developmental core that allows these players to grow together over time.
That should carry a little bit of weight in the conversation, because Bueckers and Fudd are not players that Dallas can afford to treat as just the next names in a cycle of roster turnover. If the organization wants to turn consecutive number one picks into the foundation of something lasting like other franchises have in the past, it has to get better at identifying which young players are worth investing in, then actually keeping and developing them.
Dallas has already endured the losing seasons necessary to acquire that premium draft capital. They already got extraordinarily fortunate winning two back-to-back lotteries. Drafting Bueckers and Fudd was only the first step.
Now Dallas has to turn those picks into something lasting by developing them, building around them and creating the kind of environment that will make them want to stay.
The idea isn’t just to have Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd for a few seasons, it’s to give them the chance to change the trajectory of the franchise.
The Frontcourt Is Where Experimenting Gets Interesting
Once Dallas commits to building around Bueckers and Fudd, what comes next? What can actually help them succeed?
The answer is size helps. Defense helps. Rebounding helps. Screening helps. And so do players who can finish opportunities, make quick decisions and contribute without needing the offense to revolve around them on every possession. More than anything, Dallas needs players who understand their roles within the hierarchy of the team.
I won’t go into details in this specific article, but this is an issue that became very prevalent this past season. If Bueckers and Fudd are going to be the foundation of the backcourt, the offense should reflect that. Bueckers should remain the primary ball handler, while Fudd should be used as a primary scoring option and secondary creator alongside her. The players that you put around them should enhance those roles instead of consistently competing with them for the same touches and responsibilities.
Bueckers and Fudd are both naturally unselfish players because they came from a UConn system that despised any other brand of basketball. UConn builds systems around ball movement, spacing, cutting, and making the right decisions for the team rather than simply maximizing an individual player’s stats. The willingness to play within a team concept is a strength, but it also makes roster construction around them that much more important.
Surrounding two unselfish stars with multiple high usage or ball dominant players whose game requires substantial time on the ball can easily create an offense where the players Dallas should be investing in as the future are the ones being asked to sacrifice the most.
Now that doesn’t mean that every player on the roster has to be low usage, nor does it mean that Dallas should avoid veteran scorers all together. It just means that those players have to complement the hierarchy rather than blur it. A veteran who can defend, rebound, screen, finish, shoot or provide secondary scoring can be enormously valuable when everyone understands the game plan.
Dallas also has to learn more about what larger roster construction around the two guards could look like. In the 2026 season, the Wings remained steadily committed to their three guard lineup. Even when one guard left the floor, another was subbed in their place. This often left Fudd in essentially the same wing-oriented role rather than allowing Dallas to test Bueckers and Fudd as a more traditional two guard backcourt surrounded by greater size.
I looked at lineup data from PBPStats and noticed that the combination of Bueckers, Fudd, Kuier, Smith and Shepard logged zero minutes together. Dallas simply never gave that two-guard structure a meaningful trial.
That leaves a lot of questions for Dallas to answer. How can they know what frontcourt best complements Bueckers and Fudd if they rarely give it enough time to develop?
The answer doesn’t necessarily need to be a specific combination of those players we just mentioned. Contract decisions could change those pieces entirely by next season, but the larger point is that Dallas should use the players it adds and retains to test a roster philosophy built around its young backcourt.
Dallas doesn’t need to know what exactly a championship roster looks like right at this moment, but they do need to start building and experimenting from a clear principle that Paige and Azzi are the first options, and the rest of the roster should be evaluated by how well it helps them succeed.
The Golden State Comparison
The comparison to the Golden State Warriors has come up a lot over the last six months because they offer an interesting historical parallel to the current Dallas Wings. They also faced a similar organizational question about an established scoring guard and a younger backcourt that represented a different future.
Stephen Curry was drafted into the NBA in 2009 by the Golden State Warriors, and Monta Ellis was Golden State’s already established leading scorer, and one of its more popular players. The Warriors spent several seasons trying to make the Curry-Ellis backcourt work. Ellis remained productive, averaging more than 20 points per game for three consecutive seasons while Curry gradually showed that his shooting and playmaking style of basketball could become the foundation to something very different.
Then Golden State drafted Klay Thompson in 2011. He brought a skill set that fit seamlessly next to Curry. He brought size at the two, elite perimeter shooting, and the ability to thrive without dominating the ball. Thompson spent much of his rookie season behind Ellis, but the Warriors finally reached a point where keeping their existing hierarchy was going to mean limiting the backcourt of the future.
In 2012, Golden State traded Ellis to Milwaukee for Andrew Bogut and this defining move did two things for them. One, it gave Curry more responsibility as the lead guard and opened up a larger role for Thompson. Two, it added more frontcourt size and defense that their roster was lacking. This decision was universally unpopular by fans and media alike causing fans to openly boo the ownership after the trade was finalized.
But the Warriors made a choice about their future. They were no longer asking how Curry and Thompson could fit around Ellis. They were building a team that fit around Curry and Thompson.
That is where the comparison to Dallas becomes obvious. Ogunbowale, like Ellis at that stage of his career with Golden State, is not a bad player whose numbers suddenly don’t matter. She’s an established scorer who has spent years carrying a large share of the franchise’s offense. Bueckers, meanwhile, has quickly become the player that Dallas sees for its future. Then you have Fudd’s rookie season that showed why her efficiency, shooting, defensive and ability to thrive without dominating the ball makes her a natural complement to Bueckers.
The overall lesson isn’t that every veteran scorer should be traded when a younger guard arrives, but once a franchise identifies the players it truly believes should define its future, then roster decisions have to begin to reflect that belief.
The Future Is Already On The Roster
Azzi Fudd’s rookie season might have ended prematurely, but 30 games was enough to give Dallas the proof they needed to understand the kind of player they drafted.
To recap, in her 30 games she made 62 threes and broke the Wings franchise rookie record. She led the WNBA in mid range field goal percentage. She became the fastest guard in league history to reach 25 steals and 15 blocks. She recorded the most combined steals and blocks by a guard through 20 career games since 1997. She joined Tamika Catchings in a super rare rookie combination of shooting and defense. And she became the first rookie in WNBA (or NBA) history to win the All-Star Three Point Contest.
And it would be a missed opportunity to mention all of that without noting that she did it all while operating as Dallas’s third highest usage guard.
Then you have the connection between Bueckers and Fudd with Bueckers assisting on more than 30 percent of Fudd’s made field goals for the entire season. Together, the two guards produced 149 points on baskets they assisted one another. There were several examples throughout the season, but the Phoenix game gave us the most early indication of what that would look like firing on all cylinders: two players capable of reading each other’s movements, finding one another on cuts, attacking closeouts, creating in transition, screening for each other and scoring from multiple levels of the floor.
That is the opportunity Dallas has in front of them.
Surround them with size, defense, rebounding and front court players who understand their roles, and the backcourt becomes even more difficult to defend without asking either guard to sacrifice what makes her effective. That’s what building around them should look like.
It means giving them priority and signing and retaining players whose strengths complement theirs instead of overlapping with them. It means allowing their chemistry to develop through meaningful minutes together instead of constantly reshaping their roles around whoever else happens to be on the floor. And it means making decisions with the future of the franchise in mind, not simply preserving a hierarchy from the past because it’s familiar.
But let’s be honest: roster construction is only half the task. The front office can build the right roster on paper, but the coaching staff has to build the basketball identity around it. If Bueckers and Fudd are supposed to sit at the top of Dallas’s pyramid, then the offense, rotations and lineup choices on a nightly basis have to reflect that belief.
If it doesn’t, even smart personnel decisions can be undermined by a system that still asks the young core players to fit around everyone else instead of everyone else fitting around them.
The timing of these choices makes everything that much more important.
Bueckers is under contract till 2028. Fudd through 2029. And Kuier is only 25 years old. Dallas has two consecutive number one picks entering the most important developmental years of their careers and that gives the Wings a window to actually build something with continuity instead of treating every season like another roster experiment.
Both Bueckers and Fudd have spent their careers in winning environments and both play with immense effort, passion and heart. Both are willing passers and unselfish to a fault. Those traits make them easier to build around but they should not make them easier to overlook.
Dallas now has to decide what it wants to do with the opportunity they were given.
Can the Wings successfully build a roster that gives Bueckers and Fudd a real chance to compete for championships? Can they develop the young talent already in the organization? Can they establish an offensive hierarchy that reflects where the franchise is headed, not stuck where it’s been for years?
And the biggest question of all: can Dallas create a basketball environment compelling enough that both players want to spend their prime years in Dallas?
That’s all that matters now, because Dallas already landed the talent. Now they have to give that talent a reason to stay and the clock is already ticking.
What Dallas does next will decide whether Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd become just another chapter in Wing’s history, or the foundation of the era that finally changes it.
Sources:
HoopsJunkie — midrange shooting data; Fudd at 51.7% on 45-of-87 midrange attempts under the 30-games/1-attempt-per-game threshold. https://hoopsjunkie.io/
Her Hoop Stats — Paige Bueckers directed-assist data; also used for Fudd’s shooting/usage data and Dallas salary-cap information. https://herhoopstats.com/
Across the Timeline — Dallas Wings rookie franchise records, including Fudd’s 62 made threes, six threes in a game, 350 points + 50 threes milestone, and the five-game streak with 3+ made threes.
https://acrossthetimeline.com/wnba/stat-finder.html
Dallas Wings — “Wings Close Out Regular Season Series With Aces” — fastest guard in WNBA history to reach 25 steals and 15 blocks, accomplished in 16 games.
https://wings.wnba.com/news/wings-close-out-regular-season-series-with-aces-on-thursday-night
Yahoo Sports — Azzi Fudd / Tamika Catchings rookie milestone — 35+ made threes, 35+ steals and 20+ blocks over a 20-game span. https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/azzi-fudd-makes-more-wnba-044118416.html
Yahoo Sports — Fudd steals + blocks milestone — most combined steals and blocks by a guard through the first 20 career games since 1997. https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/wings-azzi-fudd-achieves-29-190050486.html
Yahoo Sports — May 24 vs. New York records — Fudd’s five threes and 17 points in the third quarter, including the WNBA rookie single-quarter three-point record. https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/azzi-fudd-breaks-another-wnba-080115338.html
PBP Stats — Dallas lineup data, including offensive rating, defensive rating, net rating and minutes for the Bueckers/Fudd/Ogunbowale combinations and the larger-lineup research. https://pbpstats.com/
Real Sports App — June 11 Phoenix play-by-play data, including shot locations, timestamps and credited assists. Real states that its sports data is provided through SportsDataIO and Sportradar. https://www.realapp.com/
D Magazine — Dallas Wings/Bueckers franchise momentum — Bueckers’ contract window plus Dallas television-audience growth and broader franchise-momentum statistics.
https://www.dmagazine.com/sports/2026/09/wings-downtown-dallas-bueckers-aac/
High Post Hoops — Jose Fernandez must rectify missed Azzi Fudd opportunity as quickly as possible — https://highposthoops.com/jose-fernandez-must-rectify-missed-azzi-fudd-opportunity-as-quickly-as-possible?