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Previously published 2025-26 Offseason Guides:
Dallas Wings guards Paige Bueckers (5) and Arike Ogunbowale (24). Photo credit: Chris Poss
2025 record: Currently 9-34. 10th in Offensive Rating, 13th in Defensive Rating. Eliminated from playoff contention ages ago.
2026 draft picks: Dallas still hold their own 2026 first-round pick. Thanks to being dreadful last year as well as this year, and the WNBA’s two-year lottery system, they’ve already locked in the best odds of the No. 1 pick in the lottery draw whenever it may take place. Assuming the league doesn’t do something unexpected like change the system along with the new CBA (relax Wings fans, there has been no indication that they will, and lottery structure has never been part of the CBA before). Dallas’s second-round pick was sent to Seattle in the Li Yueru trade, so their only other 2026 draft pick is their third-rounder.
Free agents: Arike Ogunbowale, Myisha Hines-Allen, Tyasha Harris (all unrestricted free agents), Li Yueru, Luisa Geiselsöder, Haley Jones, Grace Berger (all reserved).
Under contract: Diamond Miller, Maddy Siegrist, Paige Bueckers, Aziaha James, JJ Quinerly.
2025 performance: While Connecticut being painfully bad for the first half of the season and Chicago running them down in the ‘all-time worst’ standings has somewhat overshadowed the bad team conversations, Dallas have quietly been nearly as awful in 2025. In fact, in the standings, Dallas now sit rock bottom and will finish there. They’ve had plenty of excuses to fall back on, with injuries (and roster moves) constantly shaking up the rotation and robbing them of talent, but you can’t put it all down to that. They were poor at the start of the season when practically everyone was available, opening the year 1-11, and never really dragged themselves out of it.
After changing much of the front office and coaching staff, then losing Natasha Howard to free agency and Satou Sabally to a trade demand, there was always a strong chance that this would be a rebuilding year. Even with Paige Bueckers arriving as a foundational star — and having an exceptional rookie season — there were just too many new pieces that everyone was trying to slot together on the fly. Chris Koclanes, sliding over to become a head coach for the first time, has looked a little out of his depth at times, but it’s not been an easy job. This has been Arike Ogunbowale’s team for a long time, but it feels like there’s finally an awareness that they need to evolve away from that persona to become a winning team. That takes time, and then Arike’s injury in the second half of the season has complicated the efforts to work out how she might fit alongside Bueckers. Building a cohesive defense has been a problem all season, with breakdowns in communication and rotations a constant issue all year long, alongside the problems with transition defense that this franchise never seems to be able to escape.
They’ve already leaned young, which is a positive, because players with the potential to improve are exactly what you want in a rebuild. They also continued to shuffle the pack during the season, with trades moving players both in and out of the roster. They’re doing the right things. They’re just still a long way away from the final destination.
Offseason finances: Once again, a few players under rookie-scale contracts, and then a bunch of free agents. They actually have significantly fewer players heading for unrestricted free agency than most other teams, due to the roster being so young, but will have decisions to make on whom they want to keep (and before that on whom they want to protect in an expansion draft).
Offseason priorities: As with any team that finishes with such a poor record, the first off-court decision will be whether they want to keep the same people running things. They were likely aware that this was a multi-year project when Curt Miller was hired as general manager, so I doubt he’s going anywhere. That leaves the decision on Koclanes. Given all the injuries and the youth of his roster, plus his long working relationship with Miller, my guess is that they give him another year. But especially given the failure to build a competent defense, it also wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see them move on and try someone else (or for Miller to come down from the executive offices and take over himself).
On the playing staff, they’ll be hoping for another high pick — ideally another No. 1 — to add significant talent. Lots of WNBA champions and contenders have been built around multiple No. 1 picks, so maybe this is where they establish their base alongside Bueckers. Then they have to decide what the plan is with Ogunbowale. She’s been the star name on this roster for a long time, but it feels like she’s been supplanted by Bueckers, and that Arike’s inefficiencies could be something they need to move on from. She’s also slated to become an unrestricted free agent, so they’d need to core her to retain her exclusive rights, which comes with a one-year supermax qualifying offer they may not want to pay (all assuming those rules remain similar under a new CBA). Does she still have significant trade value if they core her first? Could they work out a deal with one of the expansion teams before even reaching free agency? There are lots of possibilities, including just keeping her around and trying to enhance the rest of the roster around Bueckers, Ogunbowale and their other young pieces. There’s talent here but they need help, especially in the paint.
Future assets: On top of the players on this year’s roster, Dallas also still hold the suspended rights to Awak Kuier and Lou Lopez Sénéchal. They’ve probably pretty much given up on Sénéchal, but Kuier is a 6-foot-5 athlete who’s only just turned 24 years old and has had productive seasons overseas. If she wants to try the WNBA again, Dallas would likely welcome her back (and she’ll be a consideration in the expansion draft, too). The Wings still hold their own first- and second-round picks in 2027, and have also added an extra first (from Las Vegas for NaLyssa Smith) and second (from Minnesota in the DiJonai Carrington trade). Their third-rounder is gone (to Seattle in the Li Yueru deal).
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