Wings GM reveals how Azzi Fudd draft process ‘always came back’ to top pick originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Azzi Fudd met the media for the first time as a Dallas Wings player on Thursday, which gave the Wings’ brain trust a chance to explain their process for how they landed on the former UConn star in Monday’s WNBA draft.
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Fudd reunites with Paige Bueckers in Dallas, where she could form a high-scoring guard trio alongside All-Star Arike Ogunbowale. In practice, it might be an uneasy fit at first, even considering Fudd and Bueckers’ relationship and off the court. But Wings executive Curt Miller firmly believes in Dallas’ scouting process that landed the Wings a generational shooting prospect in Fudd.
MORE: Azzi Fudd questioned over Paige Bueckers relationship — Wings PR denies chance to answer
Miller said Dallas’ process was “deliberate” and “thorough,” and it began as soon as the Wings won a second successive draft lottery.
But in the end, Miller said Fudd’s skillset and “intangibles” kept pointing Dallas in one direction.
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“We traveled all over the world watching this incredible draft class, but it always came back to Azzi,” Miller said.
Fudd is weeks away from making her WNBA debut on a revamped and much-improved Wings roster that also added reigning Defensive Player of the Year Alanna Smith in free agency.
Dallas opens the 2026 season at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on May 9, when the Wings will square off against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever.
