As a WNBA rookie, Minnesota Lynx guard Olivia Miles has already started earning a reputation as a true game-changer. Miles is currently averaging 19.6 points per game, which ranks eighth in the league, along with 6.0 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.3 steals while shooting 50.1% from the field and 36.2% from 3-point range.
Miles was Minnesota’s No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft, so the Dallas Wings are taking some heat for passing on Miles and instead drafting Azzi Fudd at No. 1 overall.
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Bill Simmons Chides the Dallas Wings for Drafting Azzi Fudd Over Olivia Miles
The Lynx are enjoying an outstanding season, sitting atop the league standings with a 21-6 record. Miles plays an integral role in their success. Now, The Ringer’s Bill Simmons is the latest analyst to argue that the Wings made a major mistake by passing on Miles.
“Olivia Miles falling to [No. 2] was just as stupid and indefensible as Luka falling to 3 in 2018. Can’t believe the sh*t she’s doing during these games, just a blast to watch. A true hooper. She needs to be a bigger deal…” Simmons wrote before adding in a second tweet: “She should have gone first.”
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The Wings are having a great season as well, boasting the WNBA’s fourth-best record as Fudd averages 13.3 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 45.9% from the field, 38.8% from 3-point range, and 78.9% from the free-throw line. Fudd has been solid, but her numbers pale in comparison to Miles’.
Simmons’ parallel to Luka Dončić fits. In 2018, the Atlanta Hawks selected Dončić with the No. 3 pick before trading him to the Dallas Mavericks. The two players selected before him? Deandre Ayton and Marvin Bagley III.
In the years since, Dončić has become a superstar while the big men selected before him are journeymen who have bounced around the league. Ayton is now on his fourth team, the Washington Wizards, while Bagley toils with his sixth team, the Denver Nuggets.
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Miles is considered a lock for the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year award, and the Lynx are a legitimate contender. Miles and Fudd will be linked for the remainder of their careers since they went back-to-back in the WNBA draft, and it remains to be seen if Fudd can even the gap.
