Dallas Wings draftee Aziaha James, right, smiles with teammate Paige Bueckers during the Dallas Wings 2025 Draft Class press conference April 23 at Dallas City Hall.
The Dallas Wings concluded the 2025 WNBA regular season with a 10-34 record, failing to meet expectations despite a strengthened roster.
“There’s so many different things that have captivated what we’ve been through as a team and how much we’ve overcame, and it started from the beginning of the season,” rookie guard Paige Bueckers said after the final game of the season.
With the Wings placing last in the league, the team’s winning percentage was the fourth worst in franchise history and the second worst since the team’s move to Arlington in 2016 to play at UTA’s College Park Center. Despite subpar results, the Wings still improved from their 9-31 record in the 2024 season.
Head coach Chris Koclanes credited the players’ bonds and grit, emphasizing the value of team chemistry and staying true to their identity throughout the season.
“The mental side of the game and the mental work that you all don’t see, that they really bought into it,” Koclanes said after the final home game. “You see it in the camaraderie, in the interactions here, you just see this team is connected.”
Dallas Wings center Li Yueru, left, attempts to shoot the ball while Las Vegas Aces center Megan Gustafson attempts to block the ball during a game July 27 at College Park Center.
Despite that connection, the Wings fired Koclanes last week, concluding his only year as head coach as the team looks to reset after an underwhelming season.
Koclanes was picked up by Dallas after the team hired Curt Miller, general manager and executive vice president. The now former Wings coach was an assistant for Miller while he served as head coach for the Connecticut Sun from 2016-2022.
Rookie guard Aziaha James said Koclanes helped her develop patience and let the game come to her. She said Koclanes instilled confidence in her game.
With the 2025 season in the rearview mirror, the team has set its sights on a new practice location.
In June, the Dallas City Council approved plans for a new Wings practice facility at Joey Georgusis Park in West Oak Cliff, Dallas. The facility’s groundbreaking was Sept. 26, and it is expected to open in spring 2026, according to a Dallas Wings press release.
The Wings played their first non-pandemic home games outside College Park Center this season, with two games against the Indiana Fever at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The first saw a sold-out crowd of 20,409, a franchise record and the largest crowd recorded at any WNBA game in Texas.
Throughout the season, Dallas made multiple trades and hardship contracts in an attempt to flip the script. In June, the Wings traded their 2026 second-round and 2027 third-round draft picks to the Seattle Storm for center Li Yueru.
Later that month, the Wings sent forward NaLyssa Smith to the Las Vegas Aces for the Aces’ 2027 first-round draft pick. In August, they traded guard DiJonai Carrington to the Minnesota Lynx for forward Diamond Miller, guard Karlie Samuelson and the Lynx’s 2027 second-round draft pick.
Amid the trades, much of the team’s season was defined by extended losing streaks. The Wings’ season began with 11 losses in their first 12 games, and the team lost 15 of its final 17 games.
Several major injuries added to the Wings’ woes. Guard Tyasha Harris underwent surgery for a left knee injury in June, leaving her on the sidelines for most of the season.
Las Vegas Aces forward NaLyssa Smith and Dallas Wings guard DiJonai Carrington hug during a game July 27 at College Park Center.
Yueru was unable to finish her season after spraining her left ACL in August. Rookie guard JJ Quinerly suffered the same injury later in the month and has since had surgery on her left knee, the Wings announced Oct. 3.
Even with the setbacks, the season was not all lows for the Wings. Their first win came on the road in a 22- point blowout of Koclanes’s former team, the Sun, marking the only time the Wings broke triple-digit points this season.
Amid the losing streaks, the Wings had five wins during a seven-game stretch in June, securing half their season’s wins, against the Golden State Valkyries, the Sun, the Atlanta Dream, the Washington Mystics and the Phoenix Mercury.
The Wings’ season would’ve finished with an 11- game losing streak if not for a 21-point win in their final game of the year at home against the Mercury, in which three players boasted 20 points or more.
A silver lining for Dallas came when the team acquired Bueckers as the No. 1 pick in the draft. By the end of the season, Bueckers had collected a multitude of awards and recognitions for her impact on the league and the Wings’ franchise, backed by impressive rookie stats.
Head coach Chris Koclanes directs the players during an exhibition game against the Toyota Antelopes on May 10 at College Park Center.
Bueckers set a WNBA rookie single-game record with 44 points in a loss to the Sparks. She broke the Wings rookie single-season assist and scoring records and became the fastest WNBA rookie ever to score 500 career points and 100 career assists while averaging the fifthmost points and steals of any WNBA player in 2025.
“Once you get a couple games under your belt and you learn and you grow and you watch film, you gain confidence,” Bueckers said in the final home game. “That’s throughout the entire season and my teammates and coaching staff just pouring into me.”
Bueckers wasn’t the only Wings player with standout moments this year. Guard Arike Ogunbowale scored 37 points in a loss to the Chicago Sky and later tied a franchise single-game record with 14 assists in a win over the New York Liberty. Forward Maddy Siegrist had a career-high 23 points in a loss to the Dream.
For the 2026 season, the Wings will continue playing home games at College Park Center due to delays in plans to renovate the Memorial Auditorium at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas for their new home arena.
“I’m just grateful to be around this community,” rookie guard Aziaha James said, reflecting on the season during the final game. “Everyone here helps everyone. We’re just a big family here, and I just can’t wait to do it again next season.”
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