Ahead of his first season as the Dallas Wings\u2019 head coach, Jose Fernandez hasn\u2019t been shy to declare his intentions in leading the team.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cChange is coming, and we\u2019re going to win,\u201d he said to open his introductory press conference<\/a> in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fernandez, a veteran college coach in his first WNBA job, has not backed off on that messaging with training camp underway and the regular season on the horizon. He has been asked multiple times about his expectations for the year, and more often than not, he has said that he was \u201cbrought here to win.\u201d<\/p>\n With back-to-back No. 1 picks on the roster \u2014 ascending star Paige Bueckers<\/a> and sharpshooter Azzi Fudd<\/a> \u2014 there is reason for the Wings to be so hopeful for what lies ahead. However, to what degree that optimism translates to the floor in 2026 is less certain.\u00a0<\/p>\n General manager Curt Miller took on Dallas\u2019 reinvention after the 2024 season, overhauling the roster and landing Bueckers as a franchise cornerstone in the 2025 WNBA Draft. Outside of the pickups of guards Aziaha James<\/a> and JJ Quinerly<\/a> in that same draft, however, the team\u2019s other offseason moves didn\u2019t end up being particularly successful.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Wings went 10-34 in 2025, and head coach Chris Koclanes, a former assistant to Miller when Miller was still a coach, was fired after his first season.\u00a0<\/p>\n Once again, Dallas significantly retooled the team this past offseason. Key players in Bueckers, Ogunbowale, James and Maddy Siegrist<\/a> have returned, but Miller took swings in the offseason in hopes of building something that more closely resembled a playoff roster.\u00a0<\/p>\n Most notably, Dallas added two former Minnesota Lynx bigs on seven-figure deals. Miller said he had a list of post targets heading into free agency and would have been happy to get one of Jessica Shepard<\/a> and 2025 Co-Defensive Player of the Year Alanna Smith<\/a>. The Wings got both, beefing up the frontcourt.\u00a0<\/p>\n And while the general manager prided himself on 2025\u2019s roster being fully comprised of players under 30 years old, the Wings put an emphasis on adding veterans like Odyssey Sims<\/a> and Alysha Clark<\/a> this time around.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere was an intent this year to add veterans in the locker room, which we were successful [at] in free agency,\u201d Miller told reporters at the team\u2019s media day. \u201cThere\u2019s a balance in that locker room now of youth, but the experience is very, very important to also add. So again, we want to win now. Coaches always want to win now. So we\u2019re trying to help Jose and his staff, but the GM silo certainly wants to continue to look at sustainability and sustained success.\u201d<\/p>\n Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women\u2019s Sports Daily<\/strong> Awak Kuier<\/a> also has the potential to be an X factor for the team. The 6\u20196, 24-year-old forward will return to Dallas after spending the last two seasons overseas, but her arrival is still pending as she goes through the immigration process.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe wanted to take a couple years and improve. We went and met with her and really recruited her hard last year to come back,\u201d Miller said. \u201cShe said, \u2018I improved this much with one good international season. What could I do if I do it one more year?\u2019 So we were supportive, we were patient and we recruited the heck out of her again, and now that she\u2019s coming back, we can\u2019t be happier.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite all of the additions, Bueckers still enters 2026 as the centerpiece. The guard not only has stood out as a basketball player<\/a> in training camp, but also is noticeably more of a vocal leader.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s talking more in huddles. She\u2019s saying things on the fly when we\u2019re out there on the court. And that\u2019s what you want, especially from your point guard and from your star player,\u201d Clark told reporters. \u201cYou want to be able to have that line of communication. So she does a great job. She\u2019s pulling the best out of everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n Bueckers listed shooting more threes as an area of improvement for 2026, and she opened the preseason by hitting four in the first half against the Indiana Fever on Thursday.<\/p>\n Ogunbowale and Fudd round out the expected starting guard group. The former is looking to return to All-Star form after an injury-riddled, career-worst season in 2025. The latter was picked atop a draft<\/a> with less of a clear No. 1 option than in years prior, and Dallas hopes to see her shooting, off-ball movement and defense translate quickly.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t be more pleased to draft Azzi Fudd. A true winner, competitor, hard worker, one of the most unselfish superstars at the collegiate level,\u201d Miller said on draft night. \u201c\u2026 [Fudd] has all the characteristics that we\u2019re trying to accumulate in that locker room.\u201d<\/p>\n A smaller, three-guard lineup lacking a proven defensive stopper in the backcourt brings concerns that Fernandez has been upfront in acknowledging. His primary rebuttal has been pointing out how lethal the trio can be on offense.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you look at those three playing together, I know the big concern is, how are those three going to play defensively? But other teams have to guard those three if they\u2019re on the floor together at the same time as well,\u201d Fernandez said in April.<\/p>\n Another player to watch in the group is James, who can bring a spark off the bench as a scorer and passer. She also listed defense as the main area of growth for herself this coming season.<\/p>\n Order \u2018Rare Gems\u2019 and save 30%
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We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women\u2019s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women\u2019s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!<\/p>\n
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Howard Megdal, founder and editor of The IX Basketball and The IX Sports, wrote this deeply reported book. \u201cRare Gems\u201d follows four connected generations of women\u2019s basketball pioneers, from Elvera \u201cPeps\u201d Neuman to Cheryl Reeve and from Lindsay Whalen to Sylvia Fowles and Paige Bueckers.<\/p>\n