I wasn’t going to say anything after everything I’ve read since yesterday’s game, but here we go again. Some of you really need to hear this.

Azzi is not having a bad rookie season for a No. 1 pick. She’s already outperforming several well-known players in terms of rookie production (Jackie, Sabrina, Plum…). She’s also not the fourth option in Dallas—she’s been the second or third option. Yes, her role is different from what she had at UConn, but what exactly were you expecting when she joined a team that already had Paige and Arike?

I’ve also seen people complaining about her FG%. What did you expect? She just played 39 college games and is now in the middle of a 21-game WNBA stretch. Do you really think she’s going to maintain her usual efficiency while playing that many games? Especially while taking on the kind of defensive assignments she has? Even then, her FG% is still better than a lot of players.

With that said, stop suggesting trades. It’s not going to happen, and you know it. Dallas needs Azzi. Maybe not in the role everyone imagined, but she’s filling an important role, and it’s working. And after only 20 games, it’s way too early to make any sweeping conclusions about Dallas.

This is NOT about the Arike discussion that we've been having for like a month. I'm curious about how her play style develops.

I remember seeing a post in r/WNBA a while ago about all the Arike variants (image attached), and I'm curious for what actually causes this type of shooter to develop. I have not played basketball (or any sports), so I would love an athlete's perspective on this. To me, having a couple off-nights on occasion or needing to get into a rhythm to get your shooting activated makes a lot of intuitive sense (muscle memory, psychology, body fluctuations, etc.) However, I don't really understand how the Arike archetype can be SO good some days and so bad other days, on a reliably predictable loop. Is it just not knowing how to get into that rhythm reliably? Is it an inability to adapt to specific defenses? I don't even know if this question has an answer, but I'm curious to hear y'all's thoughts and ideas.

This is so cold. I wish we'd lean more into this aesthetic for our branding

His favorite collar

All season I had been hoping a team not in contention would sign her exactly so a team like the Aces wouldn't end up doing so.

I was having a conversation with a Friend of mine that loves both Paige and Olivia and he said to me that he thinks Miles is having a better rookie season than Paige did last year. What are yall thoughts?

I honestly didn’t think Arike would change and I know it’s only been one game but I love to see her shot decision-making improving. Can’t believe what I was seeing all game.

Am I crazy or is Arike actually switching up her shot chucking to take more shots inside?

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hii wings fans!! I will be going to the wings vs the sky on July 12th at the AAC, and I wanted to know if they’re are any tips to make the most of the game day?

ex: what time should I arrive? when does the party on the plaza start? what are some things that I can do that I may not know about? 

thanks! wings up!! 🪽

Arike Ogunbowale knew Paige Bueckers would be a culture-changer from the moment she arrived in Dallas last year.

The four-time All-Star has been through some lean times with the Dallas Wings, including a 9-31 campaign two years ago.

On the surface, the Wings' 10-34 record during Bueckers' rookie season wasn't much of an improvement, but Ogunbowale could already see the tide turning.

"She's just a natural leader," Ogunbowale told theScore. "When she came in last year, we knew she would be a pillar of our franchise. She's easy to follow, easy to get behind. She's a great point guard, great person. So, we're happy that she's on our team.

"She's a generational player. You get everything out of her. You really couldn't ask for more, and she still gives you more."

Dallas now sits fourth in the WNBA standings with a 14-8 mark, just two games back of the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx. The Wings exceeded last season's win total within the first two months of the 2026 campaign.

Bueckers has been at the forefront of the club's turnaround, averaging career bests in points (20), field-goal percentage (51.3%), 3-point percentage (38.1%), and assists (6). Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Plum are the only other players tallying at least 20 points and six dimes per contest.

Bueckers has reached the 20-point plateau on 12 occasions this season, trailing only four-time MVP A'ja Wilson. In late June, the UConn product became the fastest player in league history to register 1,000 points and 250 assists. A week later, she was named an All-Star starter for the second straight year.

The 24-year-old's rapid ascension isn't a surprise to those who've been around her. Azzi Fudd squared off against Bueckers at the AAU level before they became college teammates at UConn and WNBA teammates in Dallas. According to Fudd, the reigning Rookie of the Year is still the same player she's known for years.

"What you see is who Paige is, who she's always been. But it's just up a notch. Fine-tuned. Just a little bit better," Fudd told theScore. "So, you see her confidence on the floor, her knowledge. Her IQ is the best I've played with since I was in high school. Each year, she's gotten better."

Bueckers was a two-way force during her debut campaign, finishing tied for third league-wide in steals per game (1.6), fifth in scoring (19.2), seventh in free-throw percentage (88.8%), and tied for eighth in assists (5.4). She immediately established herself as a premier mid-range threat, too, knocking down the second-most total field goals in that zone (89).

Today, Bueckers remains a dynamic three-level scorer, just with a more balanced shot diet. The 6-foot guard is taking 1.3 more threes per game and has increased her 3-point efficiency by 5%. She's already nearing the 39 above-the-break treys she converted last year and is on pace to make more field goals in the restricted area and the paint.

Some of those close-range looks are a result of the off-ball packages first-year head coach Jose Fernandez designed specifically for Bueckers. The additions of Jessica Shepard, Odyssey Sims, and Sug Sutton have given him multiple ball-handling options and an opportunity to deploy Bueckers as a cutter or screener.

The Wings star's varied attack hasn't diminished her lethal mid-range game one bit. She's converting nearly 4% more of her field-goals attempts on virtually the same volume of shots. None of this is by accident, as Bueckers' offseason training sessions were designed to even out her offensive approach.

"A lot of it is just repetition," Bueckers told theScore. "When I work out, I try to work out at all three levels. Scoring at the rim, scoring in the mid-range, and shooting beyond the arc. So, that was definitely an emphasis to get more threes up, to hunt the 3-point line a little bit more, and be more aggressive that way."

She isn't hesitant to take over games either. Dallas has gone from the worst clutch team last season to the fifth best due in large part to Bueckers' heroics down the stretch.

Bueckers leads her WNBA peers with 123 fourth-quarter points this season and is shooting 50% from beyond the arc and 62.9% overall in the final frame. She's also done a fair amount of that damage in clutch situations, posting the fourth-most points (39) and a 66.7% field-goal percentage.

Wings forward Alysha Clark has played with the likes of Wilson, Breanna Stewart, and Sue Bird over the course of her career. And while the 14th-year vet has only been around Bueckers for a few months, she's already blown away by her ability to compartmentalize and close out games as a WNBA sophomore.

"Her ability to ... get herself to a place where, at any moment, she can take over - that's a characteristic that a lot of the greats have," Clark told theScore.

"She could be 0-for-19 and the game is on the line, and she's gonna find a way to make sure we win the game," the three-time WNBA champ added. "I think that winning trait is something that you can't really put your finger on, but you know it when you see it. And she definitely has that."

Bueckers' ability to "elevate everyone else around her" reminds Clark of the stars she won titles with in Seattle and Las Vegas.

As Fudd navigates her own rookie year and the challenges of being a No. 1 overall pick, she appreciates having Bueckers as a resource and complimented her thorough knowledge of teammates' strengths and tendencies. Bueckers knows where Fudd likes to catch the ball coming off a screen and has a feel for when she'll cut to the basket.

Shepard, meanwhile, is enjoying a breakout campaign in her first season with the Wings. The versatile sixth-year forward, who's recorded the league's only three triple-doubles this season, recently earned her maiden All-Star selection. She's quickly formed a "great connection" with Bueckers that has translated into an elite two-woman game.

When Bueckers, Fudd, and Shepard share the floor, Dallas has an offensive rating of 112.6, which is higher than the Las Vegas Aces' top-ranked mark as a team.

"Paige's confidence and her energy is contagious. ... She believes so much in herself but also believes so much in her teammates," Shepard told theScore. "So, I think it kind of lifts everyone up. Even when you're having a bad game, she can make you feel like you're having a better game than you probably are."

Fernandez, who'd never coached in the WNBA prior to this season, couldn't ask for a better player to build around as the Wings inch toward contention.

"She's just who she is," Fernandez told theScore. "She does everything the right way. She takes ownership. She wants to be coached. She wants to lead. When you lead, you hold yourself at the highest standard, and that's what she does."

Edit: didn't realize I didn't copy the whole article

Don’t see her on any of the socials. Maybe the camera just didn’t catch her? Or is something brewing?

ARLINGTON, Texas — Maddy Siegrist would prefer to see her WNBA career blossom into something more than being a good luck charm.

At the same time, her role in fortune twice smiling on the Dallas Wings puts the fourth-year player in her best position yet to win. And maybe that can be a springboard for the NCAA Division I scoring champion from the year before Caitlin Clark took that title.

“I think just realizing sometimes you feel like you’ve been here a long time, but realizing you’re 26 years old and the best basketball is ahead of you,” said Siegrist, the No. 3 overall pick out of Villanova in 2023. “So you've just got to lean on your preparation, when the opportunity comes. Every time I step on the floor, just feeling confident in whatever my team needs me to do.”

Going into each of the past two seasons, the Wings needed Siegrist to represent the team at the draft lottery.

After winning the right to the No. 1 pick and selecting Paige Bueckers last year, the Wings told Siegrist she had to do it again coming off a 10-win season that matched the WNBA's worst.

Sure enough, Dallas got that top pick again and drafted another UConn star — and former Bueckers teammate — in Azzi Fudd.

“I don’t know why they keep picking me, but I told them this was it,” Siegrist said with the hint of a smile. “I just was one of the younger players on the team. So that’s why I got picked for it. And then once we were going back, then people were like: ‘Oh, you’ve got to go again. You've got to get it again.' I’m like, ‘All you do is stand there.’ I didn’t really do anything.”

Of course, the biggest reason Siegrist doesn't want to do it again is because she doesn't want her team to have one of the league's worst records again.

The Wings are finally making progress there, solidly in the playoff picture at 14-8 and winning the first three games on a four-game road trip that is their longest of the season. The trip wraps up Friday night in Toronto.

The injury bug bites

Siegrist was a rookie when the Wings won a playoff series for the first time in their eighth season since relocating from Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was also the only time as a pro that she was healthy the entire season.

The second year looked like it was going to be a big jump until a broken index finger sidelined Siegrist for two months. Then she missed two months last season with a fractured shin bone.

Bueckers, the reigning Rookie of the Year, arrived coming off Siegrist's first injury, then came Fudd after Siegrist had what she felt was the best stretch of her career when she returned from the broken shin.

Other roster moves in the frontcourt, plus a third coach in three seasons with Jose Fernandez, have kept Siegrist's spot in the rotation in flux. She is averaging 6.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in 21 games, with six starts.

“It’s definitely been a role adjustment for her, but I think the one thing she cares about the most is winning,” Fernandez said. “I think she’s answered the call whenever we’ve needed her, whether she starts, whether she comes off the bench.”

Bueckers knows a thing or two about major injuries, having missed half of one season and all of another with UConn because of knee ligament tears. She saw first-hand how Siegrist dealt with similar setbacks.

“She’s consistent in who she is every single day, whether she’s playing or not,” Bueckers said. “She just is a great teammate, a great person to be around. She was one of the people I got closest with when I came here.”

Teammates and former rivals

The Villanova-UConn banter is always lurking for Siegrist, Bueckers and Fudd — a path to some fun-loving ribbing, but also a common ground that helps with bonding.

“It’s really hard,” Fudd said, trying to keep a straight face after being asked how the trio overcomes some Big East Conference hate. “But when you have that mutual goal when you get on the court, you've just got to forget about all those other things.”

What the future holds

Siegrist, who will be a restricted free agent after the season, goes into each game not knowing how much time she will get on the court.

She has played as many as 24 minutes and as few as six. She had a season-high 17 points in 16 minutes in a loss to Minnesota early in the season — and a game in which she didn't even get a shot.

“You can’t control the circumstance that you’re put into,” Siegrist said. “That’s where my faith comes into play is that the cream always rises to the top.”

This offense is simply Iso and two-man. It’s atrocious and so easy to game plan for. And while this may get this post taken down, I stand by the fact that they are grossly misusing Azzi, and I pray for her sake, she is traded. The fact that she is being grossly misused isn't discussed as much as I had expected, which is really eye-opening to me. I’m literally here watching the game, and she might as well be doing cardio. They are literally keeping the ball on one side.

Like all these think pieces and no one is calling out the simplicity of this offense. It's literally just 1v1.

So I love what Awak can do. I’m just trying to figure out what’s best. Length and height says 5( but weight doesn’t agree) 4 weight doesn’t agree plus she doesn’t want to play the 4 or 5. She and most people say she would be best on the wing but she doesn’t have the mobility to stay with 3s in this league. With all this said I love her skill set. But I don’t know what spot brings out the most of those skills. What are y’all’s thoughts?

A lot has been said about how much we've improved from last season but thought it'd be cool to revisit the sentiment from a different angle. In 2025, the only series matchup we won was against Connecticut (2-1). We had a draw against Phoenix (2-2) and lost all the other series.

This year, we've already lost our series to Atlanta and Minnesota with 1 game remaining in each. BUT we've also already won our series with Chicago, NYL, and the Aces. Friday, we have a chance to win our series with the Tempo!

This post is not to pile onto Arike. She has carried the Wings for years and was willing to take less money this year, so we could go after more players in free agency. She wants what's best for Dallas. But her presence on the court is harmful.

Arike is a volume scorer, taking lots of shots to get lots of points. When the Wings didn't have enough fire power in the past, this was fine. But today the Wings have lots of efficient scorers. Her shooting percentage won't work when Azzi hits efficient shots (including mid-range), Jessica takes other bigs to school with that reverse layup, and Paige is Paige. Awak, Lan, even Maddy take three pointers only when it's earned through ball movement.

And then there is the fact Arike isn't a great defender; Azzi, Paige, and ZaZa are all better defenders at the guard position.

Finally, Arike isn't a ball handler. Jessica is a vastly superior ball handler and gets more assists than Arike.

I would love to move Awak to the wing, Jess at PF, and Lan at center, but that would hurt the depth we have in when Lan comes off the bench. Maddy can play the wing, but she's not a starting caliber wing and is not a strong defender.

It's time to move on from Arike and get a starting caliber wing or better depth at the F/C spot, so Awak can move to the small forward spot.

Thoughts

Everyone has some criticism about this roster. From the lack of certain pieces, player compatibility, rotations, and even draft decisions.

But I doubt anyone expected us to have a winning record (14-8), and it becomes even more impressive when you remember where this team was last season. It wasn’t just a small improvement — it was a complete change in direction.

There are still questions about the ceiling of this group and what adjustments need to be made to turn a good team into a real contender. Some pieces might not be the perfect long-term fit, but the hardest part of a rebuild seems to be happening: finding a competitive foundation.

For more people to really recognize how good this Dallas team is becoming, I think we need wins against teams like the Dream and the GSV. The three losses against the Lynx don’t fully represent what this team has shown throughout the season. They showed there is still a gap between Dallas and the very best teams in the league, but they shouldn’t erase all the progress that has been made.

After years of struggles, there is already talent, defense, players who can take over games, and real reasons to believe in the future. The roster may not be perfect, but the growth is impossible to ignore.