{"id":319067,"date":"2025-11-28T18:24:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T18:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/319067\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T18:24:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T18:24:12","slug":"curt-miller-says-paige-bueckers-is-a-magnet-for-wnba-players-as-dallas-wings-enter-unprecedented-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/319067\/","title":{"rendered":"Curt Miller Says Paige Bueckers Is A \u2018Magnet\u2019 For WNBA Players As Dallas Wings Enter Unprecedented Free Agency"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers added another milestone to her historic rookie season Friday when she was named to the league\u2019s Second Team, becoming the only first-year player selected to either squad. The honor extends a debut campaign in which she also earned Rookie of the Year, AP Rookie of the Year, All-Rookie recognition, and started the All-Star Game.<\/p>\n

Bueckers averaged 19.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.6 steals across 36 games while shooting 47.7 percent from the field. She finished top-nine in scoring, assists, and steals leaguewide and led all guards in efficiency at 20.3. She also set franchise rookie records in scoring, assists, and overall productivity, highlighted by her 44-point performance against Los Angeles in August.<\/p>\n

Her rise has quickly become central to how the Wings are viewed around the league \u2014 and how they are preparing for the next stage of their rebuild.<\/p>\n

Paige Bueckers as a Recruiting Magnet<\/p>\n

During Sunday\u2019s draft-lottery press conference, general manager Curt Miller said Bueckers has already altered how players perceive Dallas as a destination.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeams in recent years have been built through the draft, and when they\u2019re built through the draft, other players want to play with great players,\u201d Miller said. \u201cPaige is a magnet. People want to play with great players.\u201d<\/p>\n

That belief extends far beyond the optimism of draft night. Miller has previously explained that Bueckers has emerged as a centerpiece not only on the court but also in shaping the franchise\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaige will be a unifier, someone players want to play with,\u201d Miller told DallasHoopsJournal.com<\/a> in July. \u201cOur young core will make us attractive, too. Players will see these young, great teammates and think, \u2018That\u2019s our second unit, I want to be a part of that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Miller, Bueckers has embraced a recruiting role sooner than expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaige wants to be involved in recruiting players to Dallas,\u201d he said. \u201cArike also initiates free agency conversations with me. It\u2019s exciting that your two best players consistently want to talk future. She\u2019ll pick up the phone and call me\u2014\u2018What about so-and-so?\u2019 \u2026 Since the All-Star break, you see the way she and Paige communicate. You can hear them speaking the same language.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller views that type of buy-in \u2014 from both Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale \u2014 as something rare in the WNBA, and a defining piece of how Dallas intends to build its next contender.<\/p>\n

A Rising Star on Multiple Platforms<\/p>\n

Bueckers\u2019 profile is also expanding outside the WNBA. She is set to make her Unrivaled debut in 2026 after signing a three-year contract and taking an equity stake in the league. She will play for Breeze BC alongside Cameron Brink, Rickea Jackson, Dominique Malonga, Aari McDonald, and Kate Martin.<\/p>\n

Her involvement aligns her with one of the most player-driven basketball ventures in the sport, and positions her as both an on-court star and a front-facing recruiter in a league built around empowerment and NIL-style partnerships.<\/p>\n

The Wings believe that visibility \u2014 combined with her production, her leadership and the team\u2019s growing infrastructure \u2014 strengthens their long-term pitch. Dallas will move into a new $55 million practice facility in 2026, has substantial cap flexibility coming in 2026 free agency, and now holds the No. 1 pick in a draft with no consensus top selection.<\/p>\n

For the organization, Bueckers is emerging as the type of cornerstone who accelerates every phase of a rebuild. Her rookie season delivered star-caliber play and quickly evolved into something larger: a franchise identity shift built around culture, connectivity, and an unusually influential young guard.<\/p>\n

As Miller put it, Dallas\u2019 future isn\u2019t just about what Bueckers can do \u2014 it\u2019s about who wants to follow her there.<\/p>\n

More Dallas Wings News & Rumors<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers added another milestone to her historic rookie season Friday when she was named…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[163431,5041,2835,2834,2833,99,18419,434,2940,93203,23316],"class_list":{"0":"post-319067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-breeze-bc","9":"tag-cameron-brink","10":"tag-curt-miller","11":"tag-dallas-wings","12":"tag-paige-bueckers","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-unrivaled","15":"tag-wnba","16":"tag-wnba-draft","17":"tag-wnba-expansion","18":"tag-wnba-free-agency"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}