The Dallas Mavericks shocked the basketball world back in February when they traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Fans worried that the future of professional basketball in Dallas was in trouble. Luckily for them, both the NBA and WNBA Draft lotteries fell their way and both the Mavericks and Dallas Wings secured the top overall selections. Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki praised No. 1 overall pick Paige Bueckers and shared his opinion on how she projects as a WNBA player.
Nowitzki knows a thing or two about successful basketball players; the German big man won the NBA's MVP award in 2007 and a title in 2011 as part of a Hall-of-Fame worthy career. He spoke about Bueckers and the talent she has, both as an individual and as someone who can lead the Wings into their future alongside Arike Ogunbowale.
"I think [Paige Bueckers has] got the talent. She's gonna be amazing for us."
Dirk Nowitzki says Paige is going to be "tremendous" for the Dallas Wings 👏 pic.twitter.com/r9bTC069ZR
— ESPN (@espn) May 20, 2025
“I think [Paige Bueckers has] got the talent,” Nowitzki said about the young star. “She's gonna be amazing for us, and she's just gonna get better from game to game, from season to season. You can already see now, she's gotten more comfortable from game one. She's gonna be tremendous for this organization for a long time.”




As much as Wings fans want to believe Nowitzki, they can't help but draw comparisons between Bueckers and Doncic. Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison sent away the franchise's best player since Doncic, something nobody expected would ever happen.
Bueckers is off to a great start, averaging 14.5 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds through her first two games. She and Ogunbowale form one of the league's best backcourts. It's on the Wings organization to keep them both together for as long as they can.
Regardless of how the season goes, Bueckers has the support of Nowitzki and the rest of the Wings fanbase. Her talent in college and raw ability have fans all over the league excited to see what she can do. If she is what everyone expects, the future of the WNBA just got a little bit brighter.