Paige Beuckers makes her NBA preseason debut Friday as the Dallas Wings take on the Las Vegas Aces.
It'll be her first pro game after being picked first overall in the WNBA draft, and Beuckers is injecting some excitement into a team that didn鈥檛 have a banner season last year: The Wings went 9-31 and finished with the second-worst record in the WNBA. They also missed the playoffs for the first time since the pandemic shortened the 2020 season.
The disappointing season didn鈥檛 live up to the rich history of the franchise, dating back to its days as the Detroit Shock back in the late 1990s and early 2000s when they won three WNBA championships in 2003, 2006 and 2008 under Detroit Pistons legend, Bill Laimbeer.
Since coming to Dallas ahead of the 2016 season, the Wings have made the playoffs in five of their nine seasons. They鈥檙e laying the groundwork for success; they just haven鈥檛 been able to break through to the level they want to be at.
That鈥檚 where Beuckers comes in.
She鈥檚 obviously a generational talent and comes off a great season at UConn, winning a national championship there and averaging 20 points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals per game. She was a do-it-all player for them who could take over a game and elevate the players around her.
There鈥檚 been a lot of excitement around the idea of her partnering up with Arike Ogunbowale, who's been the Wings鈥� star since she was taken fifth overall in the 2019 WNBA draft.
The Wings also added Aziaha James from North Carolina State University as the 12th overall draft pick and Madison Scott from Ole Miss 14th overall, and there鈥檚 optimism those two can both compete for roster spots alongside Beuckers, as well.
The addition of Beckers is far from the only change to the Wings this year, though. They've shaken up the front office, too, making two big hires at the top.
Curt Miller was brought in as the new general manager in November. A veteran of the WNBA, Miller had head coaching experience with the Los Angeles Sparks and Connecticut Sun. He was also voted the WNBA executive of the year in 2017 and is a two-time coach of the year honoree in the league.
Miller then hired Chris Koclanes as the new Wings head coach, who brings more than a decade of experience as an assistant coach both in the WNBA and at the NCAA level. He was defensive coordinator for the Sparks when Miller was head coach. That season Koclanes led them to the third best scoring defense in the league.
Part of what makes Beuckers such an exciting get for Dallas is the star power fueling business momentum in the WNBA, like increased sponsorships and viewership. Beuckers the basketball player is super intriguing, but her visibility as one of the faces of women鈥檚 hoops in recent years is huge for Dallas.
Beuckers has 2.5 million followers on Instagram, which is even more than Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, and she鈥檚 filling a hole in the hearts of many Dallas sports fans after Luca Doncic's unceremonious exit in that February trade that shook the city. Hopefully Beuckers has a chance to endear herself with the fans and make that type of impact here. She's got the potential to be one of the next superstars in women's basketball.
Meanwhile, this is the last season the Dallas Wings will play at the University of Texas at Arlington's College Park Center. The Dallas City Council approved an agreement last year for the team to move into Memorial Arena at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center downtown. The 15-year, $19 million agreement is part of the city鈥檚 effort to revitalize the downtown area.
But the Wings will be leaving their home court for just one night this summer, to play at the American Airlines Center against the Indiana Fever on June 27.
It's a highly anticipated matchup in women's basketball as Beuckers dukes it out with Caitlin Clark. The pair had their fair share of matchups at the college level, most notably playing in the 2024 Final Four with Clark's Iowa team taking that one in narrow fashion. It's just one of many exciting opportunities for the Wings to try and continue growing their footprint in the area.
The Dallas Wings鈥� pre-season gets underway Friday night at 6 p.m.
Got a tip? Email Rebekah Morr at rmorr@kera.org.
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