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Despite suffering another brutal loss, this time to the Indiana Fever, Paige Bueckers remains confident in the Dallas Wings‘ long-term outlook. The result drops Dallas to 6-16, the second-worst record in the WNBA, but Bueckers is not giving up on the team just yet.
Coming off the Wings' third consecutive loss, Bueckers was understandably upset with the result. However, having spoken about not getting caught up in the results too much before, the 23-year-old remained confident in her team's process.
“There's no skipping steps to building what we want to build here,” Bueckers said, via ClutchPoints' Joey Mistretta. “This part of the journey… we're gonna stick together through it.”
The Wings' 19-point loss was their seventh double-digit defeat of the year, but to no fault of Bueckers. The rookie was phenomenal from beginning to end, posting an efficient 21 points on 9-for-15 from the floor. She added four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The game was nationally televised due to the high-profile matchup between Bueckers and Caitlin Clark, the two most recent No. 1 draft picks. Clark's took an emphatic 1-0 lead in their head-to-head rivalry, but Bueckers was undeniably the better individual player in the game.
Paige Bueckers, Wings struggling through another skid
While the Wings continue to struggle, they have shown improvement recently as their young core begins to gel. Dallas went 5-2 from June 17 to July 3, but has since lost three games. They are still 5-5 since June 17, a vast improvement from their 1-11 start to the season.
Amid the recent skid, it has surprisingly been the team's veterans who are struggling more than the young stars. Arike Ogunbowale shot a disastrous 0-for-10 against the Fever in her first game back from injury. Save for center Li Yueru, none of the team's veteran assets have been impactful on the court.
Instead, it has been Dallas' young core of Bueckers, Aziaha James, JJ Quinerly and Luisa Geiselsoder carrying the team during its midseason lull. Bueckers is the clear star, but James and Quinerly have suddenly emerged as complementary backcourt pieces. James, the team's No. 12 overall pick, has been on fire lately, scoring 10 or more points in eight of the Wings' last nine games.
With James and Quinerly's emergence, the Wings' future extends beyond just Bueckers. Ahead of the 2025 WNBA All-Star break, Dallas is easily one of the top young teams in the league, despite what its record indicates.
