The Dallas Wings have signed forward Jessica Shepard to a multi-year contract, the team announced. The 6-foot-4 forward comes to Dallas from the Minnesota Lynx, reuniting with former Notre Dame teammate Arike Ogunbowale and joining a Wings roster that is taking shape rapidly ahead of the 2026 season.
Shepard arrives as one of the most efficient frontcourt players in the league. Over 40 games with Minnesota in 2025, she averaged 8.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists while shooting a WNBA-best 63.8% from the field. Her offensive rebounding average of 2.3 ranked seventh in the league, and her overall rebounding clip placed 10th. Over five seasons and 125 career games with the Lynx, she has averaged 6.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists while shooting 53.5% from the field — a career mark that ranks ninth among all players since 2019 with a minimum of 300 field goals made.
General manager Curt Miller made clear the Wings were not passive in pursuing her.
“The Wings are ecstatic about the signing of Jessica Shepard to a multi-year deal,” Miller said. “She was a priority for us in free agency because of her versatility offensively. She is a fantastic passer and facilitator, along with being an incredible scorer around the rim. We were also drawn to her because of her high basketball IQ, which we can’t wait to pair with our exciting young core of players.”
That priority reflects a blueprint Miller laid out in detail last August, when he described how Dallas would use its cap flexibility to pursue proven veterans who could complement a younger nucleus.
“We’re going to have a really young core group to build with,” Miller told Dallas Hoops Journal in an exclusive interview. “Why that’s important is they’ll be on inexpensive or less expensive contracts, which gives us flexibility in free agency to make really competitive offers — maybe even an over-offer when needed — to acquire veteran talent around that young core.”
Shepard is the embodiment of that approach — a high-IQ, high-efficiency frontcourt piece who produced at an elite level in a defined role on a contending roster.
Coming Off a Standout Overseas Campaign
Shepard’s production extended well beyond the WNBA season. During the past offseason, she played for Schio in Italy’s Serie A1, averaging 16.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.1 steals while shooting 67% from three over 20 games. In 15 Euroleague contests, she finished second overall in scoring at 17.0 points per game and led all players in rebounding at 9.5 per game, double-doubles with six, and efficiency.
While playing in Greece in 2025, she swept All-Greek A1 Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, First Team, and All-Defensive Team honors — a clean sweep that underscored just how dominant she has been on the international stage.
The Dallas Wings Continue a Busy Offseason
The Shepard signing is the latest in a series of moves that have reshaped the Wings’ roster over the past two weeks.
Ogunbowale headlines the offseason, re-signing after taking less than her $1.4 million supermax qualifying offer to give the front office additional cap flexibility. Center Awak Kuier was also re-signed, returning from three seasons in Europe where she averaged 12.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, and 1.0 steals per game for Galatasaray while shooting 59.3% from the field and 40.9% from three, leading the Euroleague in blocks.
Center Li Yueru and guard Grace Berger have both accepted qualifying offers, retaining two rotation contributors from last season as restricted free agents. In a salary-clearing transaction, Dallas sent forward Diamond Miller to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for center/forward Rayah Marshall, generating a minimum savings of $259,088 with the potential to clear Miller’s full $536,588 salary with an additional roster move.
The offseason also brought losses. The Portland Fire claimed forward Luisa Geiselsöder and guard/forward Haley Jones in last week’s WNBA Expansion Draft — two rotation pieces whose departures created the frontcourt void Shepard now helps fill.
Up Next for the Dallas Wings
With the roster continuing to evolve, Dallas turns its attention to Monday’s WNBA Draft on April 13, where the Wings hold both the No. 1 overall pick and the No. 31 selection.
The 2026 season gets underway May 9 on the road against the Indiana Fever at noon CT, with the home opener to follow May 12 at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, at 7 p.m. against the Atlanta Dream.
More Wings & WNBA Coverage on Dallas Hoops Journal
- Sources: Dallas Wings Agree To Multi-Year Deal With Jessica Shepard In WNBA Free Agency
- Sources: Arike Ogunbowale Re-Signing With Dallas Wings On Historic Multi-Year Deal
- Sources: Dallas Wings Re-Signing Awak Kuier After Overseas Development
- Dallas Wings Trade Diamond Miller To Connecticut Sun, Acquire Rayah Marshall In Salary-Clearing Move
- Dallas Wings Extend Core Offer To Arike Ogunbowale, Qualifying Offers To Li Yueru And Grace Berger
- Portland Fire Select Luisa Geiselsöder, Haley Jones From Dallas Wings In 2026 WNBA Expansion Draft
- ‘She’s A Connector’: Dallas Wings Star Paige Bueckers Was Given Key Team USA Advice By Sue Bird
- ‘We Have A Chip On Our Shoulder’: Dallas Wings Star Paige Bueckers Shares Goals For USA Basketball Senior Debut
- Paige Bueckers Says Jose Fernandez ‘Has A Good Plan’ For The Dallas Wings
