NEW YORK — Dallas Wings common supervisor Curt Miller mentioned he wakened Monday feeling prefer it was Christmas morning, and by the tip of the day his franchise was awarded its long-awaited current.
The Wings chosen UConn star and freshly minted NCAA champion Paige Bueckers No. 1 within the 2025 WNBA draft, fulfilling the imaginative and prescient the workforce had conjured since profitable the draft lottery in November for the primary time in franchise historical past.
“Very early on, it was Paige and Paige solely,” Miller mentioned. “She’s such a particular participant.”
“The conversations [with the Wings] had been transient, however only for them to know that I’m coming in and wanting to provide every thing I’ve to that group,” Bueckers mentioned. “Dallas is a sports activities metropolis, so I am tremendous excited for the help, the brand new wave of being there, being in a brand new metropolis, being with a brand new workforce and conquering these challenges as a bunch. We have got nice items, an incredible possession, nice GMs, nice coaches. Your entire group from as much as down, I am extraordinarily excited for it.”
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Bueckers, a three-time first-team All-American from Hopkins, Minnesota, turns into the sixth participant, and first since Breanna Stewart in 2016, to be the No. 1 decide after profitable a nationwide championship in the identical yr. Bueckers led the Huskies to their first NCAA title in 9 years, and this system’s twelfth general, on April 6 in her ultimate faculty recreation.
Bueckers was supported on the draft, which was held at The Shed, by the whole UConn workforce and training workers, together with Geno Auriemma. Aaliyah Edwards and Nika Muhl, Bueckers’ former classmates who had been drafted final season, additionally attended.
“They imply every thing to me. They helped me get by way of highs and lows,” Bueckers mentioned, choking up when speaking about her former teammates.
Bueckers is the sixth UConn participant to be drafted No. 1, becoming a member of a distinguished group of WNBA superstars that features Sue Chook (2002), Diana Taurasi (2004), Tina Charles (2010), Maya Moore (2011) and Stewart (2016).
“You do not ever need to assume something in life. Nofactor is assured, so for this second to be right here and it to truly occur, it is nerve-racking,” Bueckers mentioned about being chosen No. 1. “You simply have a stage of pleasure, nervousness, bittersweet feeling understanding that my journey at UConn is over however excited for the following one to start. To have the ability to share that second with the folks sitting at my desk and in addition the folks not sitting at my desk, they performed an enormous function in it.”
The choice marks a hopeful change of fortune for the Wings, who went 9-31 final season, missed the playoffs and reshaped their entrance workplace and training workers. Bueckers marks their second No. 1 decide, following Charli Collier in 2021.
“What we have seen No. 1 picks do to franchises across the league, it’s one thing actually particular, the trajectory of your workforce, the momentum that it brings,” Miller mentioned. “Paige will do it in her personal method, and her effectivity, her unselfishness, her skill to take over when wanted, I feel you are going to see her actually affect this franchise.”
The Seattle Storm adopted Dallas’ choice by selecting 19-year-old French star Dominique Malonga, who grew to become the sixth participant drafted within the prime two who didn’t attend faculty in the USA. Malonga, a 6-foot-6 middle, has been a professional since she was 15 and was a part of the silver medal-winning French Olympic basketball workforce. Gaining comparisons to her French compatriot Victor Wembanyama, Malonga is taken into account by some expertise evaluators to even have a generational ceiling as a professional.
She is the highest-drafted participant from France in WNBA historical past.
“I’m so proud to realize that aim as a result of it simply reveals that French basketball has developed, as we have seen the previous few years on the NBA aspect,” Malonga mentioned. “We see Wemby or Zaccharie Risacher that present that French basketball is nice, and now with the ladies, so me, it simply reveals that it isn’t solely males French gamers, it is also girls. It is simply French basketball usually. I am so proud simply to point out that right now French basketball is at a stage that we now have by no means seen.”
Recent off hiring a brand new coach (Sydney Johnson) and common supervisor (Jamila Wideman), the Washington Mystics grew to become the second workforce in WNBA historical past to make three of the primary six picks of a draft once they chosen Notre Dame’s Sonia Citron at No. 3, USC’s Kiki Iriafen at No. 4 and Kentucky’s Georgia Amoore at No. 6.
At No. 5, the growth Golden State Valkyries made Justė Jocytė of Lithuania their first draft decide in franchise historical past. Jocytė is the second participant drafted from Lithuania — and first within the first spherical — becoming a member of Jurgita Streimikyte in 2000.
Two different groups had a pair of first-round picks: At No. 7, the Connecticut Solar took LSU’s Aneesah Morrow, who completed her faculty profession with the second-most double-doubles in Division I historical past. After which at No. 8, the Solar chosen NC State’s Saniya Rivers, the Wolfpack’s highest draft decide in program historical past. The Chicago Sky adopted by drafting Slovenia’s Ajša Sivka tenth and Hailey Van Lith eleventh, the latter TCU’s second first-round decide in program historical past.
Van Lith, who earlier this spring grew to become the primary males’s or girls’s participant in NCAA match historical past to guide three faculties to the Elite Eight, will reunite with former LSU teammate Angel Reese, with whom she performed within the 2023-24 season.
The Los Angeles Sparks took Sarah Ashlee Barker at No. 9, making her the third first-round choice in Alabama historical past.
Dallas closed out the primary spherical drafting Aziaha James of NC State at No. 12. Rivers and James are NC State’s first pair of first-round picks in a single draft.
Paige Bueckers’ UConn teammates and coach Geno Auriemma had been in attendance Monday evening to see her be drafted first general. “They imply every thing to me,” Bueckers mentioned whereas choking up. “They helped me get by way of highs and lows.” Elsa/Getty Pictures
The alternatives of Malonga, Jocytė and Sivka tied for probably the most worldwide gamers drafted throughout the prime 10 in WNBA historical past.
A notable title who went undrafted by way of the three rounds was Sedona Prince, who simply completed her seventh and ultimate season at TCU, the place she helped the Horned Frogs attain the Elite Eight for the primary time at school historical past and earned honorable point out AP All-American honors. The 6-foot-7 middle got here into the highlight with a viral video in the course of the NCAA match bubble in 2021, and was additionally a lead plaintiff in a landmark antitrust lawsuit that can assist get cash for faculty athletes.
Prince confronted backlash from followers — together with a petition for her dismissal from TCU — after accusations of sexual assault and intimate associate violence from 4 girls had been made public. She has denied the allegations and was by no means charged with a criminal offense.
Prince was not among the many 16 prospects invited to attend the draft. She might get invited by a WNBA workforce for a tryout or elect to play abroad.
The 2025 season was set to be a brand new chapter in Dallas even except for the addition of Bueckers. The Wings, headlined by four-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale, employed new coach Chris Koclanes and Miller this offseason. After stars Satou Sabally and Natasha Howard moved on to completely different groups, Miller introduced in DiJonai Carrington, Tyasha Harris, NaLyssa Smith and Myisha Hines-Allen throughout free company.
The franchise, which beforehand performed in Detroit and Tulsa when it was referred to as the Shock, has made the postseason in 5 of its 9 seasons since relocating to Dallas in 2016 however superior previous the primary spherical solely as soon as, in 2023. It completed second to final within the standings final yr, in entrance of solely the Sparks. Now the Wings will look to bottle up the momentum of drafting Bueckers into supercharging their franchise on and off the court docket.
2025 WNBA First-Spherical Draft PicksTeamPlayerSchool1. WingsPaige BueckersUConn2. StormDominique MalongaFrance3. MysticsSonia CitronNotre Dame4. MysticsKiki IriafenUSC5. ValkyriesJustė JocytėLithuania6. MysticsGeorgia AmooreKentucky7. SunAneesah MorrowLSU8. SunSaniya RiversNC State9. SparksSarah Ashlee BarkerAlabama10. SkyAjša SivkaSlovenia11. SkyHailey Van LithTCU12. WingsAziaha JamesNC State
The group had already introduced a transfer in 2026 from Arlington to Dallas, the place it’ll have a standalone follow facility and play in a bigger and newly renovated area.
“It is a new construct. They’ve tried it a sure method, and it hasn’t labored,” Auriemma mentioned. “They’ve made huge adjustments, entrance workplace, teaching workers, every thing. Their roster’s in a bit little bit of flux, which is nice. Typically, when you’ve got a brand new group, you will be a part of the construct. You will be a part of the brand new and a few of these gamers which might be there which might be used to taking part in a sure method, perhaps you need to play a distinct method, and Paige could be the proper particular person to assist them try this. It is thrilling, I do know that, it is thrilling for her and for the franchise.”
Added Bueckers: “It is not a rebuild, it is only a construct from the place we’re. Excited for the brand new area, the brand new follow facility and conversations with the CEO, the GM. We’re excited for the long run, and we solely suppose one of the best is forward.”
Bueckers enters the professionals boasting the highest profession scoring common in UConn historical past (19.8 PPG) on exceptional effectivity (53% from the sphere, 42% from 3, 85% from the free throw line), whereas additionally shining as a facilitator. In 2021, she grew to become the primary freshman to win the Picket Award, Naismith Trophy and AP Nationwide Participant of the 12 months. She then overcame a pair of knee accidents, together with an ACL tear that sidelined her for the 2022-23 season, to play one of the best basketball of her profession over the previous two seasons with the Huskies.
Although the 6-foot guard can play each on and off the ball, a number of WNBA expertise evaluators advised ESPN they see her as some extent guard long-term. Both method, her pairing with Ogunbowale within the backcourt might quickly emerge as probably the greatest guard duos within the league.
“I feel she’s simply so unselfish,” Koclanes mentioned. “She will take over a recreation when she needs to and when she must, however she simply has such nice really feel for getting others concerned. And that is one thing that is actually particular. So you set that subsequent to Arike and I really feel collectively they will have the ability to play off of one another and skim who’s going, who wants a contact, perhaps I must be extra aggressive, perhaps I have to defer on this second, however love simply her mindset of getting others concerned, so I feel they will mesh properly collectively.”
ESPN Analysis and The Related Press contributed to this report.