Paige Bueckers: A New Chapter Begins in Dallas
NEW YORK — The excitement was palpable on Monday night as UConn star Paige Bueckers, fresh off an NCAA championship victory, was selected as the No. 1 pick by the Dallas Wings in the 2025 WNBA draft. This moment marked a significant milestone in Bueckers’ career, as she became the sixth player to be drafted first overall and win a national championship in the same year, joining the ranks of Breanna Stewart, who achieved this feat in 2016.
Bueckers, a three-time first-team All-American from Hopkins, Minnesota, led the Huskies to their first NCAA title in nine years last Sunday in her final college game. Her selection by the Wings is a beacon of hope for the franchise, which struggled last season with a 9-31 record, missing the playoffs and undergoing a coaching change. The Wings were awarded the top pick in November after winning the draft lottery for the first time in franchise history.
In her own words, Bueckers expressed her enthusiasm for the new opportunity: “Dallas I’m so excited, a new city, a new start. A fresh start, so let’s get it.”
Joining an elite group of UConn players who have been drafted No. 1, Bueckers follows in the footsteps of legends like Sue Bird (2002), Diana Taurasi (2004), Tina Charles (2010), Maya Moore (2011), and Breanna Stewart (2016). Her UConn teammates and coach Geno Auriemma were present at the draft, held at The Shed in New York, where Bueckers became emotional while speaking about her former teammates, saying, “They mean everything to me. They helped me get through highs and lows.”
The Wings’ new general manager, Curt Miller, expressed his excitement about Bueckers’ addition to the team, stating, “The addition of Paige is another huge momentum-building moment for the Wings franchise and team. Paige is one of the most efficient and decorated players we have seen in the history of the collegiate game. … Tonight is truly a special night for Paige and the Dallas Wings.”
Draft Highlights and International Talent
The Seattle Storm followed Dallas’ selection by drafting 19-year-old French star Dominique Malonga, who became the sixth player drafted in the top two who did not attend university in the United States. Malonga, a 6-foot-6 center, has been a professional player since she was 15 and was part of the silver-medal-winning French Olympic basketball team. She is the first French player to be drafted this high since 1997, when Isabelle Fijalkowski went second.
Malonga expressed her pride in achieving this milestone, saying, “I was so proud to achieve that goal. It showed that French basketball has evolved as we’ve seen the past few years on the NBA side. We see Wemby (Victor Wembanyama) and Zaccharie (Risacher) show that French basketball is great.”
Washington Mystics and Golden State Valkyries Make Their Picks
The Washington Mystics, with a new coach and general manager, selected Notre Dame‘s Sonia Citron with the third pick, and USC‘s Kiki Iriafen with No. 4. At No. 6, they selected Kentucky‘s Georgia Amoore, who averaged 19.6 points and 6.9 assists this season after transferring from Virginia Tech. She is the only SEC player over the past 25 seasons with 600 points and 200 assists in a season.
The Mystics became the second team in WNBA history to make three of the first six selections of a draft, joining the 2021 Wings.
At No. 5, the expansion Golden State Valkyries made Justė Jocytė of Lithuania the first draft choice in franchise history. Jocytė is the second player drafted out of Lithuania — and first in the first round — joining Jurgita Streimikyte in 2000.
Connecticut Sun’s Consecutive Picks
The Connecticut Sun had consecutive picks and took LSU‘s Aneesah Morrow seventh and NC State‘s Saniya Rivers eighth. Morrow is the 11th player coached by Kim Mulkey to be selected in the first round, while Rivers became the highest-drafted player in NC State history.
Wings’ New Era with Bueckers
Even before the addition of Bueckers, the 2025 Wings — headlined by four-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale — were already set to feature a slew of newcomers. Stars Satou Sabally and Natasha Howard moved on to different teams, while new coach Chris Koclanes and Miller brought in DiJonai Carrington, Tyasha Harris, NaLyssa Smith and Myisha Hines-Allen during free agency.
“It takes a special person to be able to navigate the daily pressures and expectations she faces and consistently deliver with the gratitude and grace that she has,” Koclanes said of Bueckers. “I look forward to empowering her to be herself and to be a rookie as she begins this next chapter.”
The Wings organization, which previously played in Detroit and Tulsa when it was known as the Shock, has made the postseason in five of its nine seasons since relocating to Dallas in 2016, but advanced past the first round only once, in 2023.
Now the Wings will look to channel the momentum of drafting Bueckers into supercharging their franchise on and off the court. The team had already announced a move in 2026 from Arlington to Dallas, where it will have a standalone practice facility and play in a larger and newly renovated arena.
Bueckers enters the pros boasting the top career scoring average in UConn history (19.8 PPG) on remarkable efficiency (53% from the field, 42% from 3, 85% from free throw line), while also shining as a facilitator. The 6-foot guard overcame a pair of knee injuries, including an ACL tear that sidelined her the entire 2022-23 campaign, to play the best basketball of her career over the past two seasons with the Huskies.
While she can play both on and off the ball, multiple WNBA talent evaluators told ESPN they see her as a point guard long-term in the league. Her pairing with Ogunbowale in the backcourt could soon emerge as one of the best guard duos in the league.
The first round features 12 picks, with 13 in each of the final two rounds. Six teams don’t have picks in the opening round as New York, Indiana, Minnesota, Phoenix and Atlanta traded away their picks. Las Vegas forfeited its pick following an investigation by the league in 2023 that found the franchise violated league rules regarding impermissible player benefits and workplace policies.
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Originally Written by: Alexa Philippou
