Arike Ogunbowale is one of the players who should be on the juiciest end of the new CBA, being that she’s eligible for a $1.4 million supermax salary. The Dallas Wings guard has now re-signed with the team, and as it appears, she will be leaving some bread on the table.
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According to sources, Arike Ogunbowale actually took a pay cut in this new deal, instead of the max salary she would have gotten. The reason? To help the team build a championship-caliber roster around her, and of course her teammate Paige Bueckers.
I’m told Arike Ogunbowale took a pay cut to help position the Wings to build out the roster. https://t.co/AXXBeQwLm2
— Khristina (@Khristina) April 10, 2026
The 2025 WNBA season wasn’t quite it for the Dallas Wings, as they finished with a 10-34 record. That was the worst record in the league. They finished 7th in the Western Conference and 13th overall, failing to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive year. She herself, for the first time in her career, saw a significant dip in her scoring production, averaging a career-low 15.5 points per game.
So in a way, next season is as much of a reset for Arike Ogunbowale as it is for the team. And of course, this gesture makes the reset, or better still, rebuild, easier for the Wings, who have been making quite some moves in the market. Apart from Arike Ogunbowale, they have also secured Minnesota Lynx forward Jessica Shepard, while also re-signing Chinese center Li Yueru, point guard Grace Berger and Center Awak Kuier. They also recently traded former lottery pick Diamond Miller to the Connecticut Sun for forward Rayah Marshall.
At the moment, they have around $4 million in cap space to fill their remaining 6 to 7 open roster slots. This would mean that there’s still a number of business to do in the trade market and free agency. Hopefully, with this sacrifice that Arike Ogunbowale made, the team can get to bring in more quality pieces for a more balanced roster that would hopefully get better results next season.
And of course, they also hold the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming 2026 WNBA Draft. With that as well, they may go on to build a roster that may actually compete.
Inside The Dallas Wings Salary Clearing Moves
Based on the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the Dallas Wings have a $7 million cap going into the season. And of course, re-signing Arike Ogunbowale for less than the max contract helps them save money, and actually gives them more room to chase players.
However, Arike Ogunbowale’s contract is not the only money-saving effort or salary-clearing move that the Wings have made. The trade of forward Diamond Miller for Rayah Marshall is also a move to save money. Specifically, Miller had an unprotected rookie contract worth $536,588, while Marshall’s deal came in at $277,500. This means that they have saved $259,088.
Overall, the Wings are still busy putting together a roster for next season, and will cap everything up with their draft picks at the 2026 WNBA Draft. Training camps open on Sunday, April 19, 2026. Hopefully, they would already have assembled all they need by then.
