For the majority of last Friday night's winner-take-all Game 3 between the Dallas Wings and Golden State Valkyries, it seemed that the Wings were going to pull off a remarkable upset and advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2023. Instead, their 16-point lead kept slowly melting away until, with just over a minute left, it disappeared for good when Gabby Williams hit a go-ahead jumper. At the podium, shortly after a heartbreaking end to her sophomore campaign and postseason debut, Paige Bueckers was asked what stood out about this team and what they accomplished.
"I think just our selfless nature and how much we enjoyed coming to work," Bueckers said, before pausing and burying her head in her towel, unable to hold back tears. After another All-WNBA-caliber season, Bueckers scored just 27 points on 27 shots in the final two games of the series while battling the Valkyries' relentless defense and a patellar tendinitis flare-up in her right knee that had limited her since the World Cup. Despite how things ended, the Wings' 2026 campaign should be seen as a success, both inside and outside the locker room.
After winning 19 combined games in 2024 and 2025, the Wings made wholesale changes last offseason. They replaced Chris Koclanes with Jose Fernandez, signed Jessica Shepard and Alanna Smith in free agency and drafted Azzi Fudd with the No. 1 overall pick. In addition, they re-signed franchise stalwart Arike Ogunbowale.
Back in the spring, there were real questions about how the new-look group was going to fare, especially given the organization's poor track record. How would Fernandez translate to the professional game after more than two decades at South Florida? Would Shepard and Smith be enough to shore up the frontcourt?
Was Fudd, who is in a relationship with Bueckers, the right choice at No. 1? And did it make sense to bring Ogunbowale back into a crowded backcourt after the worst season of her career? Fernandez going on a lengthy postgame rant calling his players selfish after a 1-2 start didn't ease any of the concerns.
But the Wings responded to Fernandez's challenge and won six of their next seven games, and by late July were sitting in fourth place thanks in large part to a breakout season from Shepard, who went on to win Most Improved Player and proved to be a far more impactful signing than Smith. The Wings stumbled on either side of the All-Star break, however, and in late August Fudd was ruled out for the season due to a knee injury that required surgery. By that point, the Wings were stuck in eighth place and had some work to do to fend off the expansion Portland Fire for the final playoff spot.
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