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Alexa Philippou
TEN DAYS AGO, Paige Bueckers was cutting off a piece of the net in Tampa’s Amalie Arena after leading her UConn Huskies to a national championship, the program’s first in nine years.
Eight days later — and with multiple trips from Storrs, Connecticut, to New York in between — Bueckers heard her name called as the first pick by the Dallas Wings in the 2025 WNBA draft. As she was presented a No. 1 navy-and-volt-green jersey by WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, she was officially anointed as a Dallas Wing.
“You just have a level of excitement, nervousness, bittersweet feeling knowing that my journey at UConn is over,” Bueckers said, “but excited for the next one to begin.”
Life happens fast in women’s basketball — and the whirlwind won’t stop here for Dallas’ newest star. Training camp begins April 27, and in four weeks Bueckers will make her WNBA debut when the Wings open their season at home on May 16 against the Minnesota Lynx, the reigning WNBA Finals runners-up.
What are realistic first-year expectations for Bueckers? And what could be her long-term ceiling as a pro? ESPN spoke with six general managers across the league, plus Dallas general manager Curt Miller and Wings coach Chris Koclanes, to get their thoughts on Bueckers’ future.
The consensus? There’s a lot to like. As one general manager put it, “I think she can impact the league immediately … she can be dangerous right away.”
WNBA GMs see Bueckers as a high-IQ player who isn’t simply an efficient three-level scorer but a willing passer who can impact the game in a multitude of ways.
“She understands the game. Her IQ is very high. She comes from a winning program, and all that stuff translates when you have multiple tools like she does,” one GM said. “She could be 1-for-9 from the field but have eight assists. Most people can’t flip the switch. When you have multiple skills like she does, it allows you to assimilate faster.
“She’s not Caitlin Clark, she’s built differently, but she can make people better, and she’s hypercompetitive and she can get to her spots at the same time. And she’s going to have even more weapons around her in our league, so her playmaking will be even more on display.”
Bueckers’ size (she’s listed as 6-foot) and varied skill set should give her positional versatility in the pros: She can play either point guard or shooting guard (or even small forward in some instances) for the Wings, though multiple GMs said that long term, they see Bueckers as more of a point guard who’ll thrive as a pick-and-roll ball handler.
“When you look at what she can do and how she does it and how efficient she is,” said one GM, “that, to me, is what makes it where she could be one of the greats that play.”
IN YEAR 1, Bueckers’ role will be determined by first-year head coach Koclanes and his staff as they seek to get the most out of a new-look Wings roster — one that also boasts one of the WNBA’s top scorers in Arike Ogunbowale (20.6 PPG in her career).
With Ogunbowale also capable of playing both guard positions, Dallas will have flexibility in how it employs its backcourt. Koclanes could opt to keep Bueckers off the ball more as a rookie, since that would reduce the pressure she faces from opposing defenses.
“I think what makes her special is she can fill the gap, and she can fill whatever gap,” Koclanes said Monday night. “We can put her on the ball, we can put her off the ball, and she’ll be just as good, just as efficient, just as effective, and, most importantly, just as willing. And I think that speaks to her unselfishness. I’m excited as a coach to be able to talk to her and find out what works. “
Among the intangibles that GMs pointed out could translate to the next level: leadership, poise and maturity developed from having to overcome adversity throughout her college career. Never getting too high nor too low, one GM said, should help Bueckers stay the course in her first year especially.
Bueckers was sidelined for nearly two years at UConn with knee injuries — a tibial plateau fracture and meniscus tear in 2021 and an ACL tear in 2022 — but finished her time in Storrs with two healthy seasons during which she played the best basketball of her career.
Most GMs said her injury history is something to be cognizant of but not overly concerned about. As she rehabbed her ACL injury, Bueckers started working with Susan King Borchardt, a performance enhancement specialist who works with an array of WNBA stars; now Bueckers will have more time than ever to dedicate toward taking care of her body, the GMs pointed out.
“Absolutely not,” one GM said on whether the injuries are cause for concern. “Like, who cares how many injuries she’s had? She’s special.”
That wasn’t a universal belief, though.
“My only concern with Paige is physical,” a different GM said. “She’s pretty slight; she’s a little bit knock-kneed. There’s a level of physicality you have to get used to playing in the pros that I think could take its toll on her, and then just her physical ability to hold up over the years. You’ve seen the injuries at Connecticut.”
Added another GM: “Her strength is probably an area of opportunity for her, as it is for so many players coming into the league.”
Acclimating to the physicality of professional basketball is typically one of the biggest learning curves for rookies. That and the game moving too fast were aspects that Clark, for instance, had to get used to last season on her way to earning an All-WNBA first team selection.
The GMs said the transition for Bueckers will likely be no different, especially as a No. 1 pick whom opponents are particularly motivated to lock up.
“I expect the same learning curve as we saw with Clark,” one GM said. “Figuring out the pro game, its coverages, dealing with [athletes] bigger, faster, stronger than collegiate players will all be challenges.”
Another GM pointed out that Bueckers could stand to be more assertive and “selfish” on the offensive end, a mindset UConn coach Geno Auriemma challenged her to embrace throughout her college career.
“I think she’ll always struggle with it. People that are like that usually do,” the GM said. “It’s like they don’t have that overzealousness, ‘it’s going to be me above every[one].’ There’s a selfishness to being a great player. You have to be selfish at times, and I don’t know how selfish she is.”
Getting used to defending pros might also take time. One GM described Bueckers as “good but not excellent” on that end of the floor thanks to her size and effort. The question is how quickly Bueckers can adjust amid a 44-game schedule.
“It’s just really hard to impact the game as a rookie,” one GM said. “What Caitlin did last year is so special and unique. Paige is a special player … I think she’ll be a good player this year, but I’m not expecting a Caitlin-like impact. And that’s an unfair bar to set.”
AS A NO. 1 pick with a UConn pedigree and an already sizable following, expectations will be high for Bueckers. But after watching her throughout this past season, the Wings see a player built for that type of burden.
“I think it’s more the intangibles, and the way she just handles everything with such gratitude and grace is just extremely impressive,” Koclanes said.
Added Miller: “I’m not sure that there was more pressure on a player to have to win a national championship to define her legacy more than what Paige had to be feeling … To watch her navigate the pressure that she had to feel this year was truly special.”
In Dallas, Bueckers won’t be tasked with powering an entire organization single-handedly, especially one that won only nine games last season.
Miller revamped the roster this winter, bringing in a group of newcomers in DiJonai Carrington, Tyasha Harris, NaLyssa Smith and Myisha Hines-Allen before drafting Bueckers, Aziaha James, Madison Scott, JJ Quinerly and Aaronette Vonleh. But a path to the playoffs is far from guaranteed — a lot of teams leveled up this offseason with big free agency moves — and it will likely take time for the Dallas players to get used to Koclanes’ system and each other.
“If she’s on an unselfish team like she is, then she’ll get an opportunity to be as good as she is. If she’s on a selfish team, then Paige won’t even have a chance to be who she is,” Auriemma said. “So I think a lot of it is she’s going to have to work really hard at it, and I think the team has to adapt to her. It’s a two-way street.”
Either way, there’s a sentiment around the league that Bueckers will undoubtedly make Dallas better.
“No doubt she makes them stronger and more competitive,” one GM said. “I think they have a real opportunity over there in Dallas to make some noise.”
Added another: “I think she’s different [than Clark], but I think she can carry a franchise.”
And perhaps most importantly, with the combination of Bueckers’ on-court play and off-court following, she has the opportunity to revitalize the Wings.
“People who are in these roles and want to be pure basketball people always say that you have to go just off of someone’s talent, and you try to ignore the hype or the buzz,” another GM said. “But I think that’s kind of bulls—.
“Realistically speaking, there’s an energy about certain players that can really help invigorate your franchise. And I think Paige has that quality to her, between her following, the way her teammates respond to her. For a young player, she’s got an aura about her that could really help a franchise on and off the court.”
While all eyes will be on Dallas to see how Bueckers fares in Year 1, her rookie season might ultimately be a footnote to her career by the time all is said and done. The GMs agreed Bueckers has the foundation to be a great pro player with a decorated career. As for her ultimate trajectory? There’s room for debate.
“If she can stay healthy, she should be an All-Star,” one GM said. “I think she has an MVP ceiling,” said another. “I don’t think it’s as apparent as like A’ja [Wilson] or Caitlin was coming out, but I think it’s right behind them. … I think Paige just needs to get a little more selfish to get to that level.”
And the loftiest prediction? “Long-term ceiling — she’ll be a Hall of Famer.”
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