The Dallas Wings' rebuild around Paige Bueckers received an enormous jolt on Sunday, when the ping-pong balls fell their way and handed Dallas the first overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft.
It marks the second consecutive season in which the Wings (19-65 over the past two seasons) will select first in the draft, and Dallas will have its pick of the top prospects in a loaded draft -- including Lauren Betts, Awa Fam, Azzi Fudd and Olivia Miles.
However, no clear-cut #1 selection has emerged as yet. Granted, the draft isn't until April, but Wings general manager Curt Miller is toying with the idea of doing something radical with the top pick as he tries to improve Dallas' chances in 2026.
The first overall pick could be in play
After the Wings won the lottery on Sunday night, Miller told the media that the 2026 draft is much different than the two that came before it.
Last year, Bueckers was the consensus #1 overall pick; she went on to make an All-Star team and win Rookie of the Year honors. In 2024, Caitlin Clark was widely considered the top prospect, and she duly went first overall to the Indiana Fever -- where she has since been named an All-Star twice.
Neither Clark nor Bueckers was going to be traded; neither the Fever nor the Wings had any interest in trading down from first overall. According to Miller, though, all options are on the table in 2026.
"It will be interesting...to listen to those phone calls that come in for the #1 pick," he said.
"The Cailtin Clark draft, there was not going to be a trade, Paige was not going to be traded, but it will be interesting and it makes our job fun to listen to those phone calls that come in for the #1 pick. And we'll do what's best for our franchise." Https://t.co/ST6FMg0cjQ
Unless a player like Fam or Fudd emerges as the obvious top pick before April 13, it sounds like Dallas is open to creative solutions that would allow the franchise to add more talent around Bueckers. This decision should not be taken lightly: it could come to define Bueckers' tenure in Dallas, and whether the Wings can truly contend for a championship while she is on a rookie contract.
More WNBA news:
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