Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers is more than just the franchise’s point guard. She is the key to the team’s entire future.
Bueckers has only played one season with the Wings, but general manager Curt Miller explained how her value is far more than who she is on the court.
“Teams in recent years have been built through the draft, and when they’re built through the draft, other players want to play with great players,” Miller said via Dallas Hoops Journal reporter Grant Afseth. “Paige is a magnet. People want to play with great players.”
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Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving talks with Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Miller thinks Bueckers will be someone who can help recruit in free agency, which is expected to shake up the entire league with so many players’ contracts expiring.
“Paige will be a unifier, someone players want to play with,” Miller said via Afseth. “Our young core will make us attractive, too. Players will see these young, great teammates and think, ‘That’s our second unit, I want to be a part of that.’”
The Wings could build their entire team based off of free agency this winter, but Dallas will benefit because Bueckers is one of the top players that isn’t able to leave for another team.
“Paige wants to be involved in recruiting players to Dallas,” Miller said via Afseth.
“Arike [Ogunbowale] also initiates free agency conversations with me. It’s exciting that your two best players consistently want to talk future. She’ll pick up the phone and call me—‘What about so-and-so?’ … Since the All-Star break, you see the way she and Paige communicate. You can hear them speaking the same language.”
With the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement set to expire on Nov. 30, the start of free agency could be delayed depending on when a new deal is agreed upon, but negotiations should last for weeks, possibly even months.
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