ARLINGTON, TX — Two days before the Dallas Wings tipped off the 2026 WNBA season, Paige Bueckers had her competitive dial turned all the way up.
The Wings were shooting 3-pointers in two groups at the end of practice. Players in each group were supposed to be counting their collective streak of shots made, but Bueckers turned the group challenge into an individual contest.
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When Dallas center Li Yueru missed a shot and collapsed on the court in exaggerated dejection, Bueckers stuck out her tongue, hooked her thumbs inside her Wings practice jersey and skipped backward in celebration.
Azzi Fudd, the No. 1 pick in April’s WNBA draft who is Bueckers’ former UConn teammate, glanced over from where she was shooting on the opposite basket. Accustomed to Bueckers’ antics, Fudd smiled and returned to her own shooting line.
On the sideline, the Wings’ brain trust — CEO and managing partner Greg Bibb, general manager Curt Miller and first-year head coach Jose Fernandez — laughed together. Spirits in the gym were high, equaling the optimism the Wings might be on track to contend following years of instability. The start of a new season means a clean slate.
“It’s kind of ‘first day of school’ feeling,” Bibb said.
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The Wings needed a reset after they tied for the league’s worst record last season. Now, with Fernandez guiding a retooled roster highlighted by a pair of No. 1 picks in Fudd and Bueckers, the Wings are hoping to get their rebuild off the ground and return to the playoffs.
The franchise won three WNBA championships as the Detroit Shock in 2003, 2006 and 2008, but hasn’t won a title since relocating, first to Tulsa in 2010, and then Dallas in 2016. The Wings have made the playoffs six times in the past 16 season but missed the postseason in 2024 and 2025, a period defined by coach and player turnover.
The Wings made it to the WNBA semifinals, where they lost to the eventual champion Las Vegas Aces, three seasons ago. But the next season, Dallas was hit hard by injuries to multiple players including Satou Sabally, the franchise’s No. 2 overall pick in 2020. The Wings went 9-31 and fired coach Latricia Trammell at the end of the 2024 season.
“The train kind of came off the track,” Bibb said.
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Dallas hired Miller, who had previous WNBA head coach and GM experience, to rebuild. The Wings started the 2025 season with Bueckers as the new face of the franchise and Miller’s hire, Chris Koclanes, as first-time head coach. Despite Bueckers’ Rookie of the Year campaign, the Wings won 10 games and fired Koclanes.
“It was tough mentally, just to be in a different space,” Bueckers said, “going from the highs of the highs (winning the 2025 NCAA title with UConn) and then going to a losing season. But just to remain consistent and disciplined in who I am and how I go about my process, and knowing that if I continue to stick with it the right way, the results will come.”
Dallas Wings guards Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers played together at UConn.
The Wings made an immediate splash this offseason by drafting Fudd and signed reigning co-Defensive Player of the Year Alanna Smith and frontcourt standout Jessica Shepard to multi-year deals in free agency. Dallas also brought back forward Awak Kuier and franchise cornerstone guard Arike Ogunbowale, who enters her eighth season with the Wings prepared for more change – the positive kind.
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“Definitely a come-up,” Ogunbowale said of the team’s trajectory. “Even from last year, a lot of stuff is like night and day. It’s just evolving and the organization is really pouring into us and I’ve been seeing that these past couple years. Sky’s the limit, honestly.”
Dallas Wings eye playoffs with roster ‘hungry for success’
While Bueckers had a busy WNBA offseason jet-setting around the world and working on her game, she was also working the phones.
She and Ogunbowale teamed up to pitch multiple players, including Shepard and Smith, on joining the Wings.
“I was probably blowing their phone up a little more than they would’ve liked, but just to stay in constant communication,” Bueckers said. “Talked to them at Unrivaled, talked to them through USA Basketball and competing there. But definitely was heavy on the communication side.”
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Bueckers and Ogunbowale also talked to each other about their budding partnership in Dallas and how much they wanted to win together.
“Last year a lot of things happened through trades, but this is like, people wanted to be here,” Ogunbowale said. “You can tell everybody wants to be here. They’re hungry for success.”
Ogunbowale, the Wings’ all-time scoring leader, was an unrestricted free agent this offseason but chose to return to Dallas on a discounted contract. Before Ogunbowale led Notre Dame to the NCAA title in 2018, the Fighting Irish had won one national championship in women’s basketball. She relishes the opportunity to rewrite a narrative.
“I like to be one of the first, one of the ones that paved the way,” Ogunbowale said. “A lot of people, obviously, have left Dallas. That could’ve been a route I took, but I like the hard way. I like to work for greatness, so hopefully we can do that under Jose.”
Guard Arike Ogunbowale is a cornerstone of the Dallas Wings’ franchise.
Fernandez previously coached for 25 years at South Florida, where he amassed a .605 winning percentage and became the program’s all-time winningest head coach. Under his leadership, USF appeared in 10 NCAA Tournaments and produced seven WNBA draft picks. Fernandez also served as an assistant coach for USA Basketball’s junior national teams.
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Miller said he thought the Wings would benefit from Fernandez’s head coaching experience and no-nonsense leadership style. Ogunbowale described Fernandez as a “mastermind” of X’s and O’s, while Smith and Fudd appreciate Fernandez balancing fun and demanding accountability.
Bueckers drew similarities between Fernandez and her former college coach, Geno Auriemma.
“They’re both tough-nosed, old-school coaches that hold you accountable and bring the best out of you,” Bueckers said.
When it came to roster construction, Miller said the Wings prioritized improving overall depth, bolstering post presence and addressing the team’s lack of 3-point shooting.
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Fernandez installed an up-tempo style predicated on ball and player movement, floor spacing and versatility at every position. Shepard and Smith are respected defenders who anchor the frontcourt, with Kuier and Yeuru providing formidable size on the interior.
In the backcourt, Ogunbowale and Bueckers are high-volume scorers and mid-range savants who benefit from having Fudd as a release valve on the perimeter. Maddy Siegrist and Aziaha James add guard depth off the bench.
This year’s No. 1 draft pick was a crucial piece of the puzzle. Dallas coaches and executives relied on a three-pronged, “Eyes, ears and numbers” approach to evaluate prospects. They traveled to watch Spanish prospect Awa Fam, TCU guard Olivia Miles and UCLA center Lauren Betts multiple times but quickly zeroed in on Fudd.
“Everything always kept coming back to Azzi,” Miller said. “Not only on the court, with her archetype of how unselfish she is, how incredible a shooter and her shooting release, her movement off the ball – on top of being a great human and being a great teammate and the type of character we want in the locker room, it made it the obvious choice as the No. 1 pick.”
At the end of the 2025 season, Dallas was the youngest team in the WNBA. Miller said the Wings wanted to add veteran players who could complement the young core without sacrificing chemistry cultivated last season. Besides Smith and Shepard, the Wings signed three-time WNBA champion Alysha Clark and 12-year WNBA guard Odyssey Sims, who was originally drafted by the franchise No. 2 overall in 2014.
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Fudd said the Wings’ veteran players have helped her transition to the pros.
“Having vets on the team that are vocal, experienced, willing to pull me aside and just tell me what they see without me having to ask for it, is incredible,” Fudd said. “They can see the wheels in my brain turning. They’re like, ‘OK, do this, do that. I see this.’ But just having people who have been around the game longer than you, know the game better than you, it’s always gonna help.”
Challenges remain. The Wings must figure out how to minimize turnovers within their fast-paced offense, and how Bueckers, Fudd and Ogunbowale will share touches. The defensive connectivity also needs work.
To facilitate team bonding during the short preseason, Wings players shared a meal, went to a movie and line danced together. And though there are still kinks to work out, players are beginning to click.
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“We all have come from different paths in life, in basketball, and so we all have value to bring and I think what we do really well is that we respect what everyone has to say, we listen and we try and put it into action,” Smith said. “The end goal is to win a championship and we have the pieces to do that.”
Wings making strides on and off the court
The Wings’ chance at reinvention coincides with the WNBA’s period of accelerated growth. The 2025 WNBA season set ESPN viewership records as the most watched in history. In March, the league ratified a landmark CBA that led to several players − including Ogunbowale − earning $1 million or more and later secured a long-term media rights deal with CBS Sports.
In Dallas, excitement abounds for the basketball and business. The Wings’ social media following skyrocketed last season after drafting Bueckers and again this spring with Fudd. The Wings sold out of season ticket memberships in 2026 for the third season in a row. Bibb said the team saw a 411% increase in local viewership from 2024 to 2025 and expects another jump.
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The Wings also landed sponsorships for the 2026 season with three Fortune 500 companies: CVS, Geico and Kroger. Fudd’s preexisting relationship with Geico opened the door for the Wings to make a deal, an example of how the team can capitalize on the marketability of its star players with companies and fans.
At the same time, assembling a dynamite roster fans want to watch means little if players don’t want to stay. The Wings have invested heavily in improving player experience. Dallas’ basketball operations department nearly doubled in size between 2024 and 2026, which included adding performance and medical staff at Miller’s request. Assistant general manager Jasmine Thomas, a 13-year WNBA veteran, is specifically focused on supporting players off the court and preparing them for careers after basketball.
The Wings’ biggest selling point to free agents is yet to come. The team is planning to move from the College Park Center, an arena it currently shares with UT Arlington, into a new practice facility in 2027 and arena in downtown Dallas in 2028.
“For those of us that have been around for a long time, we never really had our own locker room,” Clark said. “So to be able to be in a space where you feel settled, where it feels like home, where you feel comfortable and you can come work whenever you want to come work, it’s crucial.”
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Clark, 38, is the oldest active WNBA player and the only current Wings player to win a championship. She won in 2018 and 2020 with Seattle and 2023 with Las Vegas. She said every championship team must have common ingredients.
“First and foremost, accountability from top down,” Clark said. “And then just camaraderie. That’s one of the keys that’s underestimated when it comes to championship teams. When I look back across the three that I’ve been a part of, we thoroughly just enjoy being around each other. We have really great humans in the locker room and that’s something that’s here as well.”
If WNBA history is any indication, the Wings are on a favorable path. Every franchise that has drafted No. 1 picks in consecutive years, and kept those players, has won a championship within four seasons.
The Seattle Storm won its first WNBA title in 2004 after drafting Lauren Jackson in 2001 and Sue Bird in 2002. In 2018, top picks Jewell Loyd (2015) and Breanna Stewart (2016) led Seattle to another championship. The Las Vegas Aces picked Kelsey Plum, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young at No. 1 from 2017-2019 and won the 2022 championship. The Indiana Fever, who drafted Aliyah Boston in 2023 and Caitlin Clark in 2024, are on the clock.
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Bibb is putting no such timeline on the Wings’ rebuild.
“I have not given a charge to the basketball leadership that says, ‘You need to be holding a trophy by X day,’” Bibb said. “That being said, I will also tell you that they are challenged every day to win basketball games, to be the best that they can be.”
Bibb runs the Wings with three driving principles: generate revenue, win multiple championships and make a positive impact in the community.
“Ultimately, in terms of on-court performance, winning the championship is the ultimate goal and as soon as we win one, then we’re going to start focusing on winning two,” Bibb said. “But there’s a lot of steps between now and then. We’re on that path, but we’re early on that path.”
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Miller said the Wings’ goal this season is to get back to the playoffs. He said last season in Dallas and his two seasons as head coach in Los Angeles taught him a valuable lesson: The best teams don’t always win; the healthiest teams do.
“A successful season to us looks like a team that remains very unselfish and team-oriented, a locker room that’s cohesive and has great chemistry, and ultimately, we want to win,” Miller said. “If we can get to the playoffs it would be a huge step in our process.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: With Paige Bueckers leading the charge, the Wings are done waiting around
