DHJ Quick Take: The Blueprint of Success
- The Bueckers Endorsement: While Paige Bueckers kept her comments measured at the USA Basketball mini-camp, her focus on their “great success” and “national championship” together at UConn is a powerful signal. She isn’t just talking about a friend; she’s talking about a winning formula that has already been tested on the biggest stage.
- Proven Chemistry: As Carmelo Anthony noted on 7PM in Brooklyn, this isn’t a “one-and-done” experiment. Bueckers and Fudd have four years of continuity. In a WNBA environment where training camps are notoriously short, having two cornerstone players who already speak the same basketball language is a massive competitive advantage for Jose Fernandez.
- Fixing the Geometry: Fudd’s 97th-percentile spot-up efficiency is the perfect “release valve” for the defensive pressure Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale face. By adding a shooter who hit 44.5% of her threes on high volume, the Wings can instantly move away from their league-worst three-point attempts and create the spacing this offense has lacked.
ARLINGTON, Texas — With the Dallas Wings set to make the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft on Monday, Paige Bueckers is already on record about the possibility of reuniting with former UConn teammate Azzi Fudd in Dallas.
Speaking at the USA Basketball mini-camp in Phoenix earlier this month, Bueckers embraced the idea when asked about it directly.
“That would be exciting,” Bueckers said. “Again, I don’t know all what I could say or what the future holds, but obviously we’ve had a lot of games together under our belt. We won a national championship together, so I think there’s great success in that. I guess time will tell.”
It’s a measured answer from a player who understands the weight of every word she says in the lead-up to a draft her franchise controls. But the sentiment is clear: Bueckers knows what she and Fudd are capable of when they share the floor.
A Championship Foundation
The two spent four seasons together in Storrs, winning the 2025 national championship in what became one of the most celebrated runs in UConn program history. Fudd earned Most Outstanding Player honors that year. Bueckers went No. 1 overall to Dallas shortly after. Now, with the Wings holding the top pick for the second consecutive season, the conversation has come full circle.
NBA legend Carmelo Anthony added a high-profile voice to the growing conversation this week, making his case on his 7PM in Brooklyn podcast.
“Man, I would pair Azzi Fudd with Paige Bueckers,” Anthony said. “That seems like the move, right? I would do that because it’s proven.”
Diana Taurasi has been similarly vocal, saying publicly that reuniting Fudd and Bueckers in Dallas would give the Wings “championship DNA.” The endorsements from two of the sport’s most respected voices reflect what the data already shows: this pairing has a track record, and track records matter.
What Azzi Fudd Would Add
Fudd arrives in Monday’s draft as the best pure shooter in the class. She averaged 17.3 points per game in her final season at UConn, shooting 44.5% from three on 263 attempts. Her off-screen efficiency ranked in the 90th percentile according to Synergy Sports data, and her spot-up numbers — 1.210 points per possession at the 97th percentile — reflect a player who can generate offense without the ball in her hands.
That profile fits naturally alongside Bueckers, who is exceptional both as a primary ball handler and as an off-ball mover. The Wings ranked last in the league in three-point attempts last season, launching just 21.6 per game while converting at 30.4%. Adding a shooter of Fudd’s caliber doesn’t just address a personnel gap — it changes the geometry of the entire offense.
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