The Dallas Wings front office has been notably active this season, and for good reason. A series of injuries and the temporary departures of Teaira McCowan and Luisa Geiselsöder for EuroBasket left the team shorthanded, prompting a number of roster moves. To help fill the void at center, the Wings acquired Li Yueru from the Seattle Storm.

They initially waived Kaila Charles, only to re-sign her shortly after on a hardship contract, which has since expired. The most headline-grabbing transaction came recently when Dallas traded forward NaLyssa Smith, who had just been acquired in the offseason from the Indiana Fever, to the Las Vegas Aces in exchange for a 2027 first-round pick. The move shocked both fans and Smith herself, who described the news as making her feel “sick to her stomach.” General Manager Curt Miller has since addressed the decision, explaining the reasoning behind trading a key piece of the team’s frontcourt.

Miller told the press, “Yeah, it’s never easy, especially with us dealing with all the injuries that continue to hamper us. Um, but you know, obviously you can’t control when trades um are available and when they’re they’re happening, and so our conversations came about very, very quickly with Vegas, and uh, we thought it was a good opportunity. I’m a big believer that trades can benefit two teams.”

From the Dallas Wings’ perspective, their 2025 season is effectively over in terms of playoff contention. According to ESPN’s Basketball Power Index, they currently have just a 13.5 percent chance of making the postseason. While the team has shown signs of improvement by winning four of its last six games, management is clearly focused on the bigger picture.

NaLyssa Smith’s performance has also played a role in that long-term outlook. In 15 games this season, she averaged 6.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, a noticeable decline from her 2024 averages of 10.6 points and 7.1 rebounds. Her most productive season came in 2023, when she recorded 15.5 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Compared to those numbers, it is clear she did not meet the Wings’ expectations this year, which further explains the decision to move on from her.

Along with NaLyssa Smith’s underperformance, external factors likely contributed to the decision to trade her. New acquisition Li Yueru has shown promising signs since joining the team, and the strong performances of Teaira McCowan and Luisa Geiselsöder at EuroBasket further bolstered the Wings’ frontcourt depth. Their emergence may have given the front office the confidence to move forward without Smith, making the trade both a strategic and roster-driven decision.

For Smith, they acquired the 2027 first-round pick, which could be useful in their goal to form a young, talented team. Paige Buecekrs is central to that vision, but she needs a good supporting cast around her. As we have seen this season, her teammates have let her down many times. The draft class of 2027 could potentially include USC’s JuJu Watkins, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, Texas’s Madison Booker and Iowa State’s Audi Crooks among other stars. Getting one of those would be a tremendous deal for the Wings to complete their rebuild. Bueckers would already have a couple of years in the WNBA under her belt by then and could mentor the youngsters. Following all the gymnastics in the transfer market, the GM shared their approach on the rest of the season. 

Miller said, “Yeah, I’m really really excited. You know, we had a conversation in Vegas as we were going into our 12th game. And a lot of times, coaches, organizations break up seasons into quarters, just like how you play on a game. And we didn’t have a great first quarter, but we went and huddled. Uh, and just like you would do during a game, you can’t take back that first quarter.”

The Wings had an extremely poor start to the season, being 1-10 in the ‘first quarter’ of the season, like Miller said. Their only win came against the Connecticut Sun, who are one of the bottom feeders this season. The team can’t reminisce on the games that are already finished; the only thing they can do is analyze and learn. It was not like they did not show any improvement. Paige Bueckers became the leader of the lineup as the star rookie and adjusted herself to the big leagues. Maddy Siegrist played a bigger role than in the past years when she was available. Arike Ogunbowale and Bueckers got used to playing with one another. There were small internal wins along the way that did not show up on the board. 

Miller further said, “You understood that, uh, it wasn’t a great first quarter, but there’s still a second, a third, and a fourth quarter. If you look at our seven games in this, what we view as the second quarter, we had an opportunity to be seven and 0. We’re four and three.”

Since the start of the second quarter of the season, the Wings have shown what they can be. The Wings are 4-3 in their last seven games, and as Miller mentioned, they could have had an even better record. They slipped in the final quarter against the Aces and lost in OT against the Mystics. They made a miraculous comeback against the Indiana Fever but faltered in the final moments. Chris Koclanes’ side also had new heroes pop up as they won their recent game against the Mystics without their star point guard Paige Bueckers. The team as a whole has shown a lot of resilience and caliber, which further increases hopes for the future.  As they continue trying to revive their season, let’s look into the future of the Dallas Wings and Arike Ogunbowale, who could be leaving in free agency after this season. 

Could Arike Ogunbowale Move On From the Wings After the 2025 Season?

Arike was expected to lead this team coming into this season and mentor the young Paige Bueckers. She is doing the latter and providing Bueckers’ insights based on her years of experience in the W. Her protégé is comfortably outshining her in all aspects. Bueckers has 18.4 points and 5.8 assists per game, while Arike is averaging 16.8 points and 3.9 assists. Granted, Paige has played fewer games because of injuries, but her presence has arguably held more importance than Arike’s. 

Ogunbowale is having one of her worst seasons of her career. Her 2024 averages were 22.2 points and 5.8 assists, and her mean average throughout her career before the season stood at 20.6 points and 3.8 assists per game. The fact that tactics have slightly changed this year has played a role, but her effectiveness has also seen a drop. Her field goal percentage of 36.3% is the lowest she has had. 

But will she be traded or let go in free agency next? The Wings have already shown with the NaLyssa Smith trade that they are looking ahead. They showed the door to most of their previous core, like Satou Sabally, Sevgi Uzun, and Kalani Brown, in the past off-season. Only Ogunbowale remains, and her three-year contract ends after this season. She jokingly tweeted in February that if her trade request was denied, she would essentially start missing shots. She did clarify that it was a joke because many of her previous teammates were leaving.  

A free agent storm is brewing for 2026 as the WNBA’s current collective bargaining agreement reaches a pivotal point and several marquee players are set to hit the open market. Among them is A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, whose contract is also expiring. This creates a significant opportunity for teams like the Dallas Wings to reshape their roster by bringing in experienced veterans. With management focused on long-term development, the Wings could choose to start fresh and continue rebuilding around rising star Paige Bueckers.

In this context, it would not be surprising if both the Wings and Arike Ogunbowale consider parting ways. As the team increasingly defines itself around Bueckers, Ogunbowale, who has long been the centerpiece of the franchise, may seek a new challenge where she can reclaim a lead role. Her history suggests she could flourish in a system designed more fully around her game.

Although there is no official word on her future, a split appears increasingly realistic. For now, Ogunbowale remains a key figure in Dallas’ recent improvement. She continues to be the team’s second-leading scorer, and her form has shown signs of a rebound in recent weeks. If she can sustain that level, the Wings may still have a chance to make a late push toward the playoffs, or at the very least, enter the offseason with positive momentum and clarity about their next steps.