The start of the 2025 WNBA season is just around the corner, and so is the debut of former college star Paige Buecker. The ex-UConn Husky is expected to make her debut with her new team, the Dallas Wings, against the Minnesota Lynx on May 16.
The ‘Paige Bueckers Effect’
The mere fact that she was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft speaks volumes about Buecker’s excellence as a basketball player. In a general sense, Wings fans can expect her to earn a spot among the league’s top stars in no time.
Let’s take a closer look at what Bueckers can bring to Dallas.
A Scoring Machine
Disregarding the adjustments she will likely need to make to adjust to the new level, Paige Bueckers should become a true scoring machine for the Wings.
In her career with the Huskies, Bueckers averaged 19.8 points per game, but had two seasons averaging over 20 points per game, including the most recent one in which she led UConn to the NCAA title.
By comparison, global superstar Caitlin Clark was seventh in points per game in the 2024 season with 19.2.
Hard Work
Bueckers averaged 32 minutes per game in her NCAA career, and last season she increased it to 36.1 minutes per game. Undoubtedly, her work rate is very high, which is always welcome by any coach.
For example, the leader in this statistic in the 2024 WNBA season was the now Bueckers’ teammate at the Dallas Wings, Arike Ogunbowale, with 38.6 minutes per game.
Lots of Assists
Bueckers led the WNBA in assists in two of the four seasons she played college basketball. She finished her career with 561 assists, an average of 4.6 per game. With that record, she would have finished in the top 10 of the WNBA in this stat for the 2024 season.
Defense Will Not be Neglected
Despite not being one of the tallest players (5’11”) and being a star scorer, Bueckers will also have an important impact on the Wings’ defense. Suffice it to say that she averaged 4.1 defensive rebounds per game in her college basketball career, which would place her in the top 20 in the WNBA in 2024.
Many More Eyes on Dallas
KEEP READING: Which Power 5 Women’s Basketball Transfers Will Make the Biggest Impact in 2025?
Bueckers is one of the most popular women’s basketball players in the world, with over 2.4 million followers on Instagram (Caitlin Clark, for example, is followed by 3.1 million Instagrammers).
Most, if not all, of them will be rooting for the Dallas Wings next season.
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