Last season, the Dallas Wings won just 10 games, and they were tied with the Chicago Sky for the worst record in the league. A year later, Paige Bueckers and her team pulled off one of the biggest turnarounds in league history. Not only did they triple their wins, but they also qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2023.
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With a 27-17 record in the 2026 season, the Wings finished the season with the most wins in franchise history. When she was asked about the biggest factor in her team’s turnaround, the Wings star had a funny response.
“We have a good mix of young and turnt guys, the middle ground, and then we got the uncs and the old heads. We got a good mix of everything,” Bueckers said with a laugh while speaking to USA Sports on Sunday ahead of Game 1 against the Valkyries.
While Bueckers’ interesting label for the veterans both on and off the court behind the Wings’ turnaround inspired laughter from the hosts as well, the Wings were very intentional about their rebuild. One of the biggest decisions Dallas made was to replace previous coach Chris Koclanes with Jose Fernandez from the South Florida Bulls. It changed the style of leadership inside the locker room.
Dallas kept crucial pieces from the last season. They decided to keep Maddy Siegrist, who had her best season in 2025. The Wings also re-signed All-Star guard Arike Ogunbowale to a multi-year deal.
They added two frontcourt players from the Minnesota Lynx. One was Jessica Shepard, who won AP’s Most Improved Player, alongside Alanna Smith, the reigning Co-Defensive Player of the Year.
“I think the belief [came first]. The people we have in the locker room. We recruited great people first and great basketball players second,” Bueckers added. “So, the front office did a really good job of putting the right people in the locker room, helping us set a foundation for what we wanna look like.”
Now the Wings have Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, two of the brightest young stars on the roster. While Fudd had to exit the season early with a season-ending knee injury, she played a crucial role in bringing defensive energy and an additional scoring option for the Wings for the first half of the season.
Replacing Koclanes with Fernandez also proved to be the decision for the Wings. Bueckers needed a coach like Hernandez, who did his homework in preparation for coaching Bueckers.
During the offseason, he traveled to Storrs, Connecticut, to meet Bueckers’ UConn head coach Geno Auriemma. During his time in Connecticut, he learned how to bring the best out of Bueckers while also watching Fudd’s skills firsthand.
The 2026 season is the direct result of what the front office was able to put inside that locker room. The combination of veteran experience, a young core, and a fresh coaching staff has proved good for the Wings.
Last season, they had the second-worst defensive rating in the league, and they were 10th among 13 teams in the offensive rating. This season, the picture has looked wildly different. They are the 5th-best offensive team in the league among 15 teams, and rank sixth in defensive rating. This is the perfect definition of a turnaround.
Paige Bueckers and her Dallas Wings entered the playoffs as the 7th seed. However, their postseason started with a 24-point loss to the Golden State Valkyries in the first-round series. Despite Bueckers’ 21-point performance and shooting 9-of-10 from the field, the Valkyries proved too much for Dallas. Cecilia Zandalasini and Gabby Williams led their team with 22-point and 20-point performances, respectively.
The Wings have a chance to force Game 3 if they are able to win Game 2 in front of their home crowd. Even if they lose the series, their 2026 season would hardly be called a failure. It gives the Wings a solid base to build upon.