TCU guard Olivia Miles (5) smiles after her team defeated Virginia in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif.
Justine Willard/AP
The outcome of the business decision the Dallas Wings make on Monday will fall on them alone.
They can point to the City of Dallas to explain why the team has yet to move into its new Oak Cliff practice facility and a renovated Memorial Auditorium downtown — two delays that have slowed the organization’s momentum.
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But only the Wings will be accountable for the success of the player they draft first Monday in Brooklyn, where they will have the top pick for the second straight year. The catch is that unlike in 2025 when the Wings took Paige Bueckers first overall, there is no consensus No. 1.
“Most drafts, we know who is going first,” ESPN lead WNBA play-by-play commentator Ryan Ruocco said Friday during a pre-draft media call. “This year, there’s legitimate intrigue as to who is going to go first.”
Spanish center Awa Fam has topped a number of mock drafts, and UCLA center Lauren Betts helped lead the Bruins to the national championship last week. UConn guard Azzi Fudd topped ESPN’s mock draft until Wednesday, when Michael Voepel moved TCU guard Olivia Miles into the No.1 spot.
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“I think the great thing about this draft is a lot of optionality,” Wings general manager Curt Miller said after Dallas won the draft lottery in November.
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Wings can’t repeat history
Back-to-back No. 1 picks have helped several organizations, such as the Indiana Fever and the Las Vegas Aces, turn into contenders. The Wings, who went 19-75 over the last two seasons, hope to follow a similar path. But they must choose carefully and can’t miss, like they did in 2021.
Dallas took Texas’ Charli Collier first overall only to waive her in May 2023. The Wings can’t afford another miscue as they try to grow as an organization and build around Bueckers.
Miller, who took over as Wings general manager after the 2024 season, has said Dallas would make its pick based on need following the expansion draft and free agency, which is still ongoing.
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The offseason timeline was condensed because the WNBA and its players’ union did not come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement until March 18. It’s made the lead up to draft day a bit complicated.
“You don’t know what teams’ needs are,” ESPN WNBA analyst Rebecca Lobo said Friday during the media call. “Free agency being this close to the draft has just made everything interesting.”
Wings have to consider financial status
The Wings hope to improve their on-court product, but there are financial considerations, too.
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After Dallas secured the No. 1 pick, Miller expressed hope that the outcome would generate more season ticket sales. When the Wings won the lottery and the right to draft Bueckers the previous November, season tickets for 2025 sold out that month.
Dallas has yet to announce a season ticket sellout for 2026, with under a month remaining before the regular season tips off. Fans on social media have indicated they are awaiting the outcome of the draft before they make the investment, but they’re leaning heavily in the direction of Bueckers’ former teammate.
Fudd, a popular face in women’s basketball, brings on-court skills and star power. A Bueckers-Fudd reunion would certainly sell tickets for an organization that saw tremendous business growth after acquiring the UConn star.
Who are the prospects?
While there is no consensus No. 1 pick, Betts, Fam, Fudd and Miles have separated themselves from the rest of the class.
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Betts, a 6-7 center, averaged 17.1 points on 58.2% shooting, 8.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists for UCLA, which beat South Carolina 79-51 in the national championship game last Sunday. Against South Carolina, she recorded 14 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists.
“Especially as the season went on and her showcase in the Final Four, she showed that she was a different, more versatile player than a lot of people had been giving her credit for,” Lobo said.
Fam, a 6-6 center from Spain, is averaging 9.2 points and 5.0 rebounds for professional club Valencia Basket. Evaluators have emphasized the 19-year-old’s upside and have highlighted her performance at last summer’s EuroBasket and her strong showing against Team USA during the FIBA Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament in March. She scored 10 points in 19 minutes against Team USA last month and has topped several mock drafts.
In 2025, Fudd won a national championship with Bueckers at UConn and earned Most Outstanding Player honors at the Final Four. She averaged 17.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists in her final collegiate season, helping UConn to a 38-1 record and finish in the Final Four. She shot 48.1% from the floor and is a three-point shooting threat.
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“I think Azzi is going to be an excellent pro,” Ruocco said. “I think Azzi’s a way better defender than maybe gets highlighted because she’s such an outstanding shooter.
“With Azzi, there’s certain teams where she could slide in right away and make an incredible impact,” he continued. “I’d say those teams are teams that have an established ball handler. If Azzi went to Dallas, I think right away you’re going to see her playing at a borderline All-Star level. If she goes to Seattle and doesn’t have a point guard next to her, it might take a little longer.”
ESPN had Fudd at No. 1 in its two previous mock drafts, but her new placement could have factored in her postseason performance. Fudd scored a career-high 34 points with eight 3-point shots in the second round, but she shot 12-of-39 for 31 points in UConn’s last three tournament games. In UConn’s loss to South Carolina in the national semifinal, Fudd was 3-of-15 for eight points.
Miles, ESPN’s new No. 1, transferred to TCU from Notre Dame for her final season and averaged 19 points, 9.8 rebounds and 9.0 assists in the NCAA Tournament. The Horned Frogs, who went 32–6 and won the Big 12 regular-season title, lost to South Carolina in the Elite Eight. The 5-10 guard averaged a career-high 19.6 points and had six triple-doubles this season.
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Without a clear choice at No. 1, the possibility the Wings could trade the pick comes into play.
“I believe more trade phone calls are going to come across our desk for this No. 1 than have for No. 1 picks in multiple years now,” Miller said in November. “The Caitlin Clark draft, there was not going to be a trade. Paige was not going to be traded. But it will be interesting. It makes our job fun to listen to those phone calls. … We’ll do what’s best for our franchise.”
What do the Wings need?
Miller has said the Wings, who will be led by new coach Jose Fernandez, need versatility.
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They should look at their roster as a blank slate, Ruocco said Friday.
“You’re not one piece away from winning a championship,” he said. “They need so much still in Dallas that they should only be thinking about who they truly believe is the best player. There’s cases to be made for many different players. I think you could make that case for Azzi Fudd. I think you could make it for Olivia Miles. I think you could make it for Awa Fam. I think you could make it for Lauren Betts.”
The Wings roster has started to take shape over the last two weeks, though it won’t be finalized until after training camp.
Dallas lost center Luisa Geiselsöder and guard-forward Haley Jones to the Portland Fire in the expansion draft last week. The Wings extended a core qualifying offer to unrestricted free agent Arike Ogunbowale on Tuesday, and reports came Friday that the four-time All-Star is signing a seven-figure, multiyear contract to return to the team.
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Guard Grace Berger and Li Yueru accepted qualifying offers Wednesday, and the Wings traded forward Diamond Miller to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for center-forward Rayah Marshall and at least $259,088 in savings.
It was also reported Friday that forward Awak Kuier, who was drafted by the Wings in 2021 and hasn’t played in the WNBA since the 2023 season, will re-sign with the team.
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Star guard Bueckers, the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year, is slated to return alongside guards Aziaha James and JJ Quinerly and forward Maddy Siegrist.
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Ruocco said he can see star power being a tiebreaker for a team that values two players equally on the floor but acknowledges one would bring more attention.
“But that’s really the only time I would let that come into play,” he said. “Otherwise, the No. 1 criteria has to be, ‘Who’s the best basketball player?’ Period. The end. Generally, the best basketball players are going to garner the most attention because when you win, people come, regardless of whether that person was a star before or not.”