Paige Bueckers delivered a historic rookie campaign for the Dallas Wings in 2025, establishing herself as one of the WNBA’s brightest young stars and the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year.
She averaged 19.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 5.3 assists in 35 games, shooting 47.4% from the field, 32.2% from three, and 89.3% at the free-throw line. Since the All-Star break, she has elevated her production to 19.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 5.2 assists in 17 games on 50.2% shooting, including 94.4% at the line. She also averaged 1.6 steals while keeping turnovers low for a first-year guard.
Her consistency was recognized league-wide as she was named WNBA Rookie of the Month for the third straight month, becoming the 10th player in league history — and the first in Wings franchise history — to earn the honor three times.
In August, she averaged 20.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.2 steals over 10 games while shooting 49.7% from the field and 93.6% from the line, ranking fourth among all WNBA players in scoring. That stretch was highlighted by her 44-point performance against the Los Angeles Sparks on Aug. 20.
“I think my teammates — setting me up, getting me open, setting really good screens for me, putting me in positions to succeed,” Bueckers told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “The coaching staff also putting me in positions to succeed. And then me just trusting the work and trying to make shots.”
Paige Bueckers Had Milestone-Filled Rookie Year
Bueckers’ debut campaign etched her name into the record books with multiple firsts and milestones, including tying the WNBA rookie single-game scoring record, becoming the first rookie in franchise history to lead all rookies in assists per game (minimum 20 games), and recording the longest streak of double-digit scoring games this season.
She was also the fastest player in over a decade to post a 10-point, 10-assist performance and the only rookie to score 30 or more points in multiple games. Beyond her class, Bueckers stood out league-wide, finishing as the only player this season to rank in the top 10 in both points and assists per game while also cracking the top 10 in another major category.
Over the course of the season, Bueckers grew from a gifted scorer into a more complete offensive weapon, particularly in her ability to absorb contact and stay balanced in the paint. As the season progressed, she displayed the type of patience on drives more commonly seen from veteran stars, relying on pump fakes, footwork, and body control to create cleaner looks. That composure against physical defenses emerged as one of the defining traits of her rookie campaign.
“I think being patient,” Bueckers said to DallasHoopsJournal.com. “At times I felt like I was sped up when I got to the paint, but knowing I can play off of two feet. Pump fakes. This is a very aggressive and physical league, so using that to my advantage in creating contact, initiating it, but also being smart — using my footwork and my head fakes, ball fakes to avoid some of that as well.”
In the final weeks, with teammates sidelined by injuries, defenses loaded up against Bueckers. With all the injury woes the Dallas Wings endured this season, the team tied the WNBA record for most players to appear in a single season (21), originally set by the Phoenix Mercury in 2003. Dallas also used 18 different starting lineups, matching a league record that five other teams have reached. In the middle of that instability, Bueckers welcomed the challenge of being the heavy focal point on scouting reports.
Her poise in maintaining efficiency while drawing extra defenders and creating opportunities for teammates highlighted the leadership strides she made in her first season. Whether slipping passes out of double teams, using her gravity to free shooters, or keeping Dallas’ offense steady through constant lineup changes, Bueckers consistently turned pressure into an advantage for those around her.
“Yeah, it’s been fun because it creates a lot of advantages for my teammates,” Bueckers explained to DallasHoopsJournal.com. “If teams send two, three people to me, it ends up being like a four-on-three or a three-on-two out of the play and out of the action when teams send that many bodies at me. And then it’s just fun to play to my teammates and let them eat and let them cook. So really it’s been fun.”
A 3×3 Pedigree and Unrivaled Future
Bueckers will soon pivot to the offseason and join Unrivaled, the 3×3 league founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. The league, valued at $340 million, announced expansion ahead of its second season with two new clubs — Breeze Basketball Club and Hive Basketball Club — plus a development player pool that raises its roster count to 46 players.
“It’s really challenging because it’s basically one-on-one in space,” Bueckers told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “It challenges your defense and your ability to sit down and guard, keep people in front of you. Offensively, it just helps you be able to create in isolation, create space. And it’s a lot of technique too. I mean, there’s a lot of three-man action in a five-on-five basketball game. You see a lot in triangle set offense. So it’s a lot of scheming, and it’s just fun — the pace. Obviously, the court is smaller, so everything is in transition essentially. I’m really looking forward to that too.”
Her excitement is rooted in experience. Bueckers helped Team USA win gold at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, captured multiple national 3×3 titles the same year, and was named USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year in 2019 after joining the senior team for the World Beach Games in Qatar.
Wings head coach Chris Koclanes acknowledged the delicate balance between allowing players to recover in the offseason and recognizing the developmental upside of 3×3 competition. He stressed that while the staff encourages rest and healing after a long year, they also see how the format mirrors modern WNBA actions — with more spacing, fewer help defenders, and opportunities for players to sharpen pro-style reads. For Koclanes, the key is ensuring players like Bueckers stay healthy while benefiting from the unique reps the 3×3 game provides.
“It’s tough, right? You want everyone—especially with how beat up we are right now—to go rest, recover, pour into their body, and come back for training camp as best they can,” Koclanes detailed to DallasHoopsJournal.com. “But there are benefits to three-on-three. There are actions that happen in our league now with less help-side, so you’re getting more reps and more game reps in pro actions. There are definitely positives that can come out of playing in that game. But again, I won’t speak to everything—there’s lots going on this offseason that’s way above me. Ultimately, it’s all about player health and safety so we can get them back here and put a good product on the floor for our fans.”
Dallas Wings Are Building for the Future
Beyond her individual growth, Bueckers said what excites her most is being part of building something sustainable in Dallas. She emphasized that championship teams aren’t formed solely through talent, but through chemistry, trust, and the daily willingness to compete together. The foundation of camaraderie inside the locker room, she explained, makes the Wings’ project feel less like a rebuild and more like the early stages of a culture capable of lasting success.
“Just how well we get along together,” Bueckers said to DallasHoopsJournal.com. “I think the best teams who succeed and win championships are teams that want to fight and go to war with each other, and are essentially a family. To be able to really enjoy being around each other, enjoy coming to work — that’s the most exciting part, honestly.”
Wings general manager Curt Miller has relied on the input of both Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale as he works to reshape the roster. For Miller, having his two best players so invested in the recruiting and team-building process is rare in the WNBA, and he views it as a cornerstone for the Wings’ future. Their willingness to engage in conversations will provide Dallas with a collaborative model that ties leadership directly to long-term planning.
“Paige wants to be involved in recruiting players to Dallas,” Miller told DallasHoopsJournal.com earlier this season. “Arike also initiates free agency conversations with me. It’s exciting that your two best players consistently want to talk future. She’ll pick up the phone and call me—‘What about so-and-so?’ … Since the All-Star break, you see the way she and Paige communicate. You can hear them speaking the same language. That’s been exciting for us.”
Miller noted that Bueckers’ combination of talent, unselfishness, and composure makes her the type of player others want to join. He described her as a “unifier,” someone whose presence on the court elevates those around her and whose personality off it creates a welcoming, competitive environment. That natural magnetism, he explained, is one of the Wings’ most powerful recruiting tools as they work to attract talent and build depth around their young core.
“Paige will be a unifier, someone players want to play with,” Miller emphasized to DallasHoopsJournal.com. “Our young core will make us attractive, too. Players will see these young, great teammates and think, ‘That’s our second unit, I want to be a part of that.’”
Bueckers echoed Miller’s perspective, stressing that the Wings’ progress is driven by constant dialogue between players and decision-makers. She said she values being part of conversations about the team’s direction, and views the process as a partnership rather than a top-down system. That open communication, in her view, builds trust and ensures that everyone — from the front office to the roster — is aligned on the vision for Dallas’ future.
“Just for it to be a partnership,” Bueckers told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “We all want to succeed, and we all want to build something stable here, something we are proud to be a part of. So it’s a collaborative effort amongst a lot of talking heads and a lot of people in the front office and players, just in what we want to be here and how we want to do it. It’s been great to have that open communication.”
Paige Bueckers’ Growth and Versatility
Miller also pointed out that Bueckers’ versatility provides the Wings with rare roster flexibility. Because she can thrive both on the ball as a creator and off the ball as a scorer, Dallas has the freedom to experiment with different backcourt pairings without sacrificing offensive balance. Her ability to blend with pure point guards or play as the initiator herself gives the franchise multiple pathways to constructing lineups and planning for future acquisitions.
“Paige’s efficiency and versatility give us a lot of flexibility in roster construction,” Miller explained to DallasHoopsJournal.com. “She enjoys being off the ball and then brought back into actions, not worn down by defensive point guards pressuring her full court. She works well with a true point guard…”
Looking back on her first season, Bueckers said she doesn’t measure growth in just one category, but rather in the constant effort to sharpen every facet of her game. From shooting efficiency to decision-making, from defense to leadership, she sees her development as an ongoing process with no ceiling.
“I think just expanding in all areas,” Bueckers told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “I feel like there’s improvement in every single area of basketball—it’s impossible to reach perfection. So everything.”
From tying rookie scoring records to representing the next phase of the Wings’ rebuild, Bueckers’ first season was both defining and foundational — one that firmly established her as the face of Dallas’ future and a rising star across the league.
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