With the 2025 WNBA regular season over, it is award time! Although the playoffs will continue for another month, the first of many such accolades has been announced. Paige Bueckers has been named the AP Rookie of the Year. In addition to that, she has also been named to the AP All-Rookie WNBA Team and the All-WNBA Second Team. While its safe to assume the hoopster might’ve celebrated with a small party at her place, Paige Bueckers also shared the same joy with her integral Dallas crew in a heartfelt manner.

While its usually the players and coaches who get all the headlines (good and bad), there’s a team of individuals working in the shadows who make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible. To recognize these special ones, Paige Bueckers gifted the entire practice squad new shoes! She handed each member of the squad her Nike Player Exclusive, G.T. Hustle 3.

Since Paige Bueckers is a Nike exclusive athlete, it may not seem like a big deal. But, as the saying goes, actions speak louder than words. Her gift is a grand gesture and an acknowledgment of their hard work. Whenever she or any of her Dallas teammates hoop, the practice squad puts in a shift to help them be the best versions of themselves. Gestures like Paige Bueckers’ can make a big difference to their morale. Seeing the biggest star of the franchise making gestures like these is rare in professional sports.

However, for Paige Bueckers, this is nothing new. Throughout her young career, Paige has made multiple efforts to empower others. Ever since her college days, she has leveraged her popularity to include her teammates who don’t get enough limelight. While making any business deal, one of the major concerns is to make sure it benefits at the grassroots level. Even her agent has said, “Every time we’re making a decision, we’re thinking about the ripple effect across the ecosystem from grassroots to the pros.”

Through her charity, Paige Bueckers Foundation, she has made it a point to help and contribute as much as she can to social causes. Per reports, she has donated $65,000 worth of sports equipment for underserved youth programs through her NIL partnership. $50,000 to Good Sports’ Restore Play LA initiative supporting youth sports communities affected by recent California wildfires.

Even though the Wings’ season was nothing to write home about, Paige Bueckers gave enough evidence to fill the fans with hope. Sure, they would’ve liked to have a better season than finishing rock bottom, but there are still some signs of optimism for the Dallas Wings.

Opinion: How can the Wings improve during Paige Bueckers’ sophomore season?

There is no question that the Dallas Wings’ season was a big letdown. Despite getting to witness Paige Bueckers every night, the team did not match her level of performance and, as a result, struggled immensely. While this season can be chalked as a learning curve of sorts, make no mistake, the Dallas Wings need to be better next season. But how can they go about improving the roster?

The first avenue can be through the draft. The Dallas Wings have a 40% chance of winning the 2026 WNBA draft lottery, and for the second straight year, they can draft a generational talent! Although it is too soon to know who they might target, this pick can be a saving grace for the team. They also have the option of packaging a pick to swing for the fences and trade for a star.

Another way they can improve is through better coaching. There were big hopes when Chris Koclanes was introduced as their head coach earlier this year. However, after the dismal season they’ve had, it is fair to say – things haven’t gone well. Fans have questioned him for a long time, and there have even been instances of Paige Bueckers being dumbfounded by the game plans created. Worst of all, the defense, which was supposed to be Chris’s strength, was very poor. The Wings ended the season 11th out of 13 in team defenses.

Finally, the Wings need to hope for better luck with injuries. Sure, there’ve been plenty of things wrong with the coaching and roster, but none of that has been helped by the injuries they suffered. It all began with a Tyasha Harris injury, which ruled her out for the season. Since then, DiJonai Carrington (before she was traded), Maddy Siegrist, and even Paige Bueckers had to deal with setbacks.

Koclanes and Co. tied the league record for most players to appear for a single team (21), a mark set by the Mercury in 2003. They also matched the W’s record for most starting lineups in a season (18)!

Replacing two head coaches in two consecutive years will never be a good look. On the contrary, we’ve already seen one generational talent in Angel Reese hinting towards asking for a trade; if things don’t change in Dallas soon, Paige Bueckers may follow suit as well. But the question we need to ask ourselves is – have things reached that extreme stage in Dallas?

Because per Bueckers’ recent comments, they seem united. “I’m most proud of everything — how we handled adversity, how we stayed together, how we showed resilience and fight,” she told Grant Afseth. “You can’t teach that. We embodied it as a team and coaching staff.”

Looking at the bigger picture, the Wings are set up for a major rebuild anyway.

Alongside the upcoming lottery pick odds favoring them, they also own two first-round picks and two second-round picks in 2027, including selections acquired from Las Vegas and Minnesota, per Dallas Hoops Journal.

According to me, backing Chris Koclanes seems like the right thing to do. If the Wings can have better luck with injuries next year, he should be able to turns things around, and we could see Paige Bueckers and Co. in the playoffs sooner rather than later!