Paige Bueckers is officially the newest Dallas Wings star after the team selected her with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft on Monday night.
It was projected that the Wings would select Bueckers when they won the lottery for the No. 1 pick in the draft. There was a report last year that Bueckers would prefer to not land with the Wings, but she cleared the air during the women's NCAA tournament.
The Wings ended up selling out their season ticket membership for the second year in a row once the draft lottery was announced and the prospect of getting Bueckers seemed very likely.
With the 1st pick of the WNBA Draft, the @DallasWings select Paige Bueckers!
— WNBA (@WNBA) April 14, 2025
2025 #WNBADraft presented by @Statefarm LIVE on ESPN pic.twitter.com/hTx1T2Cnoi
The UConn superstar is fresh off of winning the national title with the Huskies last weekend. It was Bueckers's first NCAA title, and UConn's 12th as a program. Bueckers is a three-time first-team All-American and a three-time Big East Player of the Year. She missed the 2022–23 season after suffering a torn ACL, but bounced back and returned to dominate in the last two seasons.
The Wings finished 11th in the 2024 WNBA standings with a 9–31 record.
Bueckers is expected to make her regular season debut on Friday, May 16 vs. her home state Minnesota Lynx in Dallas.
Now Buekcers will seek to win the WNBA Rookie of the Year award, following the lead of last year's No. 1 pick and Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Wings Select Paige Bueckers With No. 1 Pick in WNBA Draft.
