DALLAS — Paige Bueckers' tears after the Golden State Valkyries eliminated the Dallas Wings in the first round of the WNBA playoffs this month symbolized the heartbreaking end to the season, but they don’t tell the whole story.
A year after finishing 10-34, Dallas made the postseason for the first time since 2023 and achieved the most wins in franchise history with a 27-17 regular-season finish under first-year WNBA coach Jose Fernandez. The team’s 17-win improvement from 2025 set the record for the best single-season turnaround in league history.
Bueckers, who averaged 20.9 points on 51.2% shooting, 4.1 rebounds and 5.9 assists during her sophomore season, reflected on the historic year for the Wings in a recent Instagram post celebrating the “beauty in the journey and the grace in the waiting.”
By waiting, she likely means for a championship, an expectation for an ascending Wings organization.
“We’re pleased but not satisfied,” Wings CEO Greg Bibb told The Dallas Morning News this week. “I’m very grateful for the efforts and the work that were put in by everyone and the advancement that we made this year, but a first-round playoff exit is not what we’re all trying to achieve.”
Dallas certainly has the potential to make — and win — the WNBA Finals, which begin Saturday between the No. 2-seeded Valkyries and the No. 4-seeded Atlanta Dream.
The seventh seed in this year’s playoffs, the Wings pushed the Valkyries to the brink in the first round. Golden State dominated Dallas, 104-80, at Chase Center in Game 1 of the best-of-3 series, when Bueckers scored a team-high 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting.
In front of a sold-out crowd at College Park Center in Arlington, the Wings forced a Game 3 thanks to a gritty 108-100 overtime win in Game 2. Dallas veteran guard Arike Ogunbowale hit a 3 with 4.1 seconds remaining to tie the game at 93 and force overtime.
Ogunbowale exploded for 45 points in the win, setting the WNBA record for points scored in a playoff game.
She recorded 30 points and Bueckers added 17 in Dallas’ 77-73 loss to the Valkyries in Game 3 at Chase Center. The Wings led by as much as 16 in the second half, nearly pulling off the upset of the season against a team that swept the defending champion Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals. Dallas won its regular-season series against Las Vegas.
It’s hard not to wonder what might have been had a few more possessions gone the Wings’ way in Game 3 against the Valkyries.
“I think we ran out of gas a little bit,” Bibb said. “I think our short bench started to catch up with us in a very demanding series, and ultimately they were the better team and they advanced, but I don’t think anybody can question the fight or the effort that was put forth by our team in that best-of-3 series.
“I think it just adds to the excitement of what’s to come for us in the future.”
For the Wings to become a championship team, building must continue. Part of that is ensuring the team has the necessary resources available — such as the upcoming practice facility in Oak Cliff — to give players the best chance to compete, Bibb said.
Wings will need a healthy roster
But the best teams come the playoffs also have luck and health on their side, and the Wings need to get healthy.
Azzi Fudd, the 2026 No. 1 overall pick who was recently named to the WNBA All-Rookie Team, sat out the last stretch of the season and the playoff run with a right knee injury. Veteran forward Alanna Smith, a free agency pickup and the 2025 co-defensive player of the year, missed several games throughout the season, as well as the first-round playoff series.
While Bueckers appeared in 42 of 44 regular-season games and the three playoff games, she’d been dealing with knee inflammation that flared up during her gold-medal run with the USA Basketball Women’s National Team at the FIBA World Cup in Berlin last month.
The 2025 No. 1 overall pick averaged 32.8 minutes per game during the regular season and 35.7 minutes in three playoff contests, which capped a year of carrying a heavy load.
“We’ll continue to do the things we need to build the infrastructure and to put the team in the best position to win,” Bibb said. “And we’re going to need some good fortune down the stretch like everyone does to get across the goal line and to ultimately win that championship.”
Bibb told The News ahead of the 2025 season that he hopes when the Wings win a championship, the trophy is handed to Ogunbowale, the longtime face of the team drafted in the first round in 2019.
Some fans aren't convinced the Bueckers-Ogunbowale backcourt, dubbed “Parike,” has been effective. Ogunbowale, a high-volume shooter who signed a two-year deal with the Wings this spring, has had to change her game the last two seasons to make room for Bueckers, known for her efficiency.
It’s been rare that Bueckers and Ogunbowale, who have great love and respect for each other, have each performed well on the same day. The addition of Fudd, another guard who won a national championship in 2025 at UConn, alongside Bueckers, has amplified the pleas for an Ogunbowale trade.
But Bibb has a different perspective on the veteran guard, whom he said has remained loyal to the organization when others haven’t.
“I was happy for her, especially the last half of the season and in the playoffs. Her play was at such a level — it was undeniable. Even if you wanted to be unjustfully negative toward her game, you really couldn’t be,” Bibb said. “She continues to demonstrate she’s a fantastic face for our organization.
“And when I say a face, it doesn’t mean she’s the only face. You don’t have to have just one.”