DHJ Quick Take: The Decision at No. 1 Overall
- The Miles Momentum: Olivia Miles has surged to the top of draft boards following a historic senior season at TCU, where she averaged nearly a triple-double in the NCAA tournament. Her elite court vision and playmaking have led evaluators to view her as the ideal floor general to pair with Paige Bueckers.
- Backcourt Chemistry: The primary question for Curt Miller is whether Miles and Bueckers—both high-usage creators—can coexist. ESPN’s projection suggests their complementary skill sets could revolutionize the Wings‘ offense, though Arike Ogunbowale’s free agency remains the “open variable” that could dictate the final decision.
- Fudd’s Fall: Previously the consensus No. 1, UConn’s Azzi Fudd is now projected to fall to the Seattle Storm at No. 3. Evaluator feedback suggests that while Fudd remains an elite shooter, Dallas is increasingly leaning toward the versatility and size offered by Miles or UCLA center Lauren Betts.
ARLINGTON, Texas — There remains no clear pre-draft consensus around the Dallas Wings‘ No. 1 pick heading into Monday night. ESPN’s latest WNBA mock draft projects TCU point guard Olivia Miles to Dallas at the top of the board — a notable shift after the outlet had slotted UConn‘s Azzi Fudd there in its two previous editions.
The evaluator feedback circulating around the league in recent weeks aligns with that direction: multiple WNBA personnel not associated with the Wings who have shared draft opinions with Dallas Hoops Journal view Dallas as best suited to take either Miles or UCLA center Lauren Betts, with Fudd and overseas center Awa Fam viewed as better fits elsewhere on the board.
Olivia Miles Moves to the Top
ESPN’s updated mock draft represents the most significant reshuffling of the pre-draft cycle. After projecting Fudd at No. 1 in back-to-back editions, the outlet moved Miles to the top of the board on the strength of a dominant senior season and an NCAA tournament run that reinforced everything scouts had been tracking all year.
Miles averaged a career-best 19.6 points per game as the Horned Frogs went 32-6 and won the Big 12 regular-season title. She recorded six triple-doubles on the year, including one in the NCAA tournament’s first round, and connected on 73 3-pointers between her final season at Notre Dame and her lone year at TCU. Her court vision, ESPN noted, is among the best in the class.
The tournament only built on that foundation. Miles averaged 19.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 9.0 assists per game as TCU advanced to the Elite Eight before falling to South Carolina — a line that read more like a professional stat sheet than a college one.
Miles had been draft-eligible by age a year ago and was projected as a lottery pick before choosing to transfer to TCU for one final season. ESPN framed that decision as a calculated investment in her own development — one that largely paid dividends.
Building Around Paige Bueckers
The fit question that has followed Miles throughout the pre-draft process centers on Paige Bueckers, Dallas’s reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year. Both are ball-dominant guards who operate best with the ball in their hands, and whether a backcourt built around two high-usage creators can function at the highest level is a legitimate concern.
ESPN addressed it directly, writing that Miles’s “offensive arsenal” — the vision, the shooting, the playmaking — means the two “might also complement each other” rather than create redundancy. The outlet also flagged Arike Ogunbowale‘s free agency as an open variable that may shape how Dallas approaches its backcourt construction heading into 2026.
Azzi Fudd and Awa Fam Projections
Fudd, who was the Most Outstanding Player at last season’s Final Four, had a mixed NCAA tournament by her own standard. After a career-high 34-point explosion in the second round, she totaled 31 points on 12-of-39 shooting (30.8%) across her final three games, including an eight-point outing on 3-of-15 shooting in UConn’s national semifinal loss to South Carolina.
ESPN still acknowledges Fudd could go No. 1. But the outlet projects her falling to the Seattle Storm at No. 3, where she could fit into a retooling effort under new coach Sonia Raman.
Fam, the 19-year-old center averaging 9.2 points and 5.0 rebounds for Valencia in Spain, lands at No. 2 in ESPN’s projection to the Minnesota Lynx — a pick the outlet describes as contingent on how quickly Minnesota’s staff believes she can adjust to the WNBA and how high they believe her ceiling can reach.
Draft Details
The 2026 WNBA Draft tips off Monday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.
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