Basketball for the city of Dallas appeared to be in dire straits when the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic away to the Los Angeles Lakers. However, the Mavericks won the first overall pick in the NBA lottery in the upcoming NBA draft, setting up former Duke Blue Devil standout Cooper Flagg to join Paige Bueckers, who was selected first overall by the Dallas Wings in the 2025 WNBA draft.
As if the excitement weren’t already back around Dallas basketball, Bueckers has already started her professional career, and she appears to be every bit the generational player she’s been billed as since high school.
In her second game in the league, Bueckers posted a stat line of 19 points on 50% shooting to go with eight assists and four rebounds.
However, what should’ve been Dallas Wings fans celebrating a strong performance was overshadowed by the play of Bueckers’ teammate in the Wings’ backcourt, Arike Ogwumike.
Ogwumike turned in nothing short of an abysmal performance, going for eight points on 2-14 shooting while yielding a -15 +/- ( Bueckers was the Wings’ only positive +/- among starters at +2).
While bad performances are a part of being a basketball player, Ogwumike was high-jacking possessions and taking bad shots, often ignoring open teammates.
Although Ogwumike is a seasoned veteran and one of the most well-respected players in the league, it’s clear that the Wings need to put the ball in the hands of Bueckers and let her develop and learn on the fly if they want to get back into title contention as soon as possible.
It’s unlikely that Ogwumike will be willing to take a backseat to the rookie, which means the Wings’ front office may be best served making the tough decision to trade the veteran before she causes irreparable harm to her trade value.
