If there’s such a thing as winning the offseason, Paige Bueckers is doing exactly that.
The Dallas Wings guard and 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year has been making moves — literally and figuratively — since completing her first professional season on Sept. 11.
Last month, the WNBA All-Star hit up the TCU-Colorado football game in Fort Worth and the Red River Rivalry game between Texas and Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl. She also attended a Dallas Cowboys game, where she threw dimes to fans. The guard went to the State Fair of Texas and supported the Dallas Mavericks at their preseason opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Bueckers told The Dallas Morning News at the Wings’ final practice of the season that getting settled in Dallas was a main priority for her.
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“Dallas is home base now,” she said in September.
The No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft, Bueckers celebrated her 24th birthday on Oct. 20 and stopped by her alma mater UConn, where she was a three-time unanimous first-team All-American and won a national championship in 2025. During her visit, Bueckers picked up her national championship ring and served as an honorary practice player. She closed out October in London, where she watched a Premier League match between Arsenal and Crystal Palace.
But this offseason hasn’t been all play for the Wings star who averaged 19.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists during her historic rookie season.
She’s announced partnerships with Fanatics and CarMax and appeared in a holiday commercial for Dick’s Sporting Goods. Bueckers recently joined a mental health initiative, the “Love Your Mind” campaign, launched by non-profit the Ad Council. Reports came this fall that Bueckers is set to star in sports production Jess & Pearl, a film being developed by Apple Original Films that the basketball star will also executive produce.
Oh, and Bueckers was drafted No. 1 overall in the Unrivaled draft.
The phenom was selected by The Breeze, one of two new clubs in the second-year 3-on-3 women’s basketball league that features many WNBA stars, including Wings players Maddy Siegrist and Li Yueru. Come January, Bueckers will head to Miami for the Unrivaled season.
Connected to Unrivaled during her UConn days as part of an NIL deal that included equity in the league, Bueckers signed with it as a professional before Dallas drafted her No. 1 overall in April. She’s on a three-year deal and her first-year salary will reportedly exceed what she’ll make over her four-year WNBA rookie contract, worth about $348,000.
The Wings, who recently announced new coach Jose Fernandez and have the best odds in Sunday’s WNBA draft lottery, won’t start training camp until April 2026. That gives Bueckers plenty of time to continue making even more moves.
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