Wings win Paige Bueckers sweepstakes after landing No. 1 pick in WNBA draft lottery

Paige Bueckers can start envisioning WNBA hoops in Texas after the conclusion of her career at UConn.

That future is almost a certainty after the ping pong balls worked in the Dallas Wings’ favor in the 2024 WNBA draft lottery. With guard Maddy Siegrist, the third overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft, present as Sunday’s franchise representative, the Wings landed the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft.

Bueckers, who still has one year of NCAA eligibility remaining, will likely be the top pick of the 2025 WNBA draft if she forgoes a final season at UConn.

Luck was in Dallas’ favor, with the franchise entering Sunday’s lottery with the second-best odds (22.7%) to land the top pick. The Los Angeles Sparks, whom had the best odds (44.2%) to land the first pick, settled for the second overall pick.

The Chicago Sky and Washington Mystics will pick third and fourth, respectively.

The four teams that missed the WNBA postseason in 2024 were entered into the draft lottery, and the odds for the No. 1 overall pick were determined by each team’s cumulative record in the past two seasons. The Sparks owned the highest odds (44.2%) after finishing 25-55 during the 2023-24 seasons. The Wings and Sky owned the second-highest odds (22.7%) after both franchises went 31-49. Entering the lottery, the Wings owned the right to swap first-round picks with the Sky, which would’ve been exercised if Chicago ended up placing higher than Dallas in the lottery.

The Mystics had the lowest odds (10.8%) for the top pick after finishing 33-47 in the past two seasons.

Picks five through 12 were determined by the inverse order of each team’s 2024 regular-season record. The Golden State Valkyries, the WNBA’s newest franchise, will have the fifth pick in the draft. The Las Vegas Aces currently don’t have a first-round pick in next year’s draft after the league rescinded it due to the franchise violating league rules.

The defending champion Liberty are slated to pick 12th, but have the right to swap with the Phoenix Mercury’s seventh overall selection. The pick swap was acquired in a 2023 four-team deal that brought Leonie Fiebich to New York and sent 2021 Rookie of the Year Michaela Onyenwere to Phoenix.

The 2024 draft saw the Indiana Fever select Caitlin Clark as the No. 1 overall selection after four hype-filled years at Iowa, including her senior season where she became the NCAA’s all-time scoring leader.

In 2025, it’ll likely be Bueckers being the newest No. 1 pick sensation to add to the growing WNBA popularity.

Bueckers is off to a good start in her senior season at UConn: 21.3 points, 4.0 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 3.0 steals while shooting 65% from the field and 50% from deep in three games.

The Wings potentially landing the UConn star could foster a dynamic backcourt with four-time All-Star guard Arike Ogunbowale, who averaged 22.2 points and 5.1 assists in her sixth WNBA season.

It’ll be an interesting offseason for the team now slated to select first in next year’s draft. The franchise will have to make offseason decisions on star forwards Natasha Howard and Satou Sabally, who are unrestricted free agents.

And the franchise is also on the hunt for a new head coach after firing Latricia Trammell following two seasons.

____