The Dallas Wings season didn’t end the way anyone in the organization wanted it to.
Up 16 on the road in the second half of a series-deciding Game 3 against the Golden State Valkyries, Dallas let its upset hopes slip away and ended with a 77-73 loss. Star guard Paige Bueckers, who faced scoring struggles in her first playoff series, was emotional postgame in the wake of her team’s season ending.
Still, it was a strong year in many ways. The Wings went 27-17, a stark turnaround from the team’s 10-34 record in 2025 and 9-31 mark in 2024. Bueckers finished sixth in MVP voting, while breakout forward Jessica Shepard was named the league’s Most Improved Player.
These accomplishments came with a first-year coach at the helm and season-ending injuries to multiple starters. All of that makes for an “incredibly successful” year, according to Wings general manager Curt Miller.
“Really excited about what we did, but not satisfied. We had a lead with under two minutes to go in an elimination game, and could be playing tonight,” Miller told The IX Sports on Wednesday as the semifinals continued. “Certainly that’s how close you know things are when you’re chasing the championship. But proud that we were in the playoffs. Proud that we were chasing championships despite multiple season-ending injuries at the end of the year.”
The Valkyries improved to 4-0 in their home arena this postseason with Wednesday’s 83-81 win over the Las Vegas Aces. Dallas was blown out in its playoff-opening loss at Chase Center, but forced a trip back behind Arike Ogunbowale’s record-setting 45-point Game 2 performance at home.
Despite the eventual hard-fought loss, which Miller likened to a championship game, The Dallas executive said “you can’t put a price tag” on the team’s young players, such as Bueckers, getting their first taste of the postseason.
“The intensity, how every single possession is so valued in the postseason, the intensity from the crowd to the play on the court, it’s invaluable for people to gain that playoff experience,” Miller said. “So for some of our young players, to gain those three games of playoffs will really help them down the line.”
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It was a season of first-time experiences, including Fernandez leading a WNBA team for the first time after decades at the college level. He had to adjust to the league, and Miller said Fernandez showed quick growth from early in the year to the end of it. He credited the coach’s offensive mind and ATOs (after timeout plays) as reasons he was able to find immediate success. Dallas was fourth in the league in offensive rating and led in assists per game.
“Huge credit to Jose and his staff, but also our players who grew with him and were patient and gave him grace when needed, but also Jose did a really good job of holding the line and holding players accountable when they needed to be held accountable,” Miller said. “I just think he had a really, really successful rookie season.”
Bueckers, meanwhile, had a successful sophomore season. Her points, rebounds and assists rose, as did her efficiency as a scorer. She ranked sixth in the league in minutes per game — Miller said she “hates ever being load managed” — and was the driving force behind the team’s success. She’s likely to land on an All-WNBA team again, and her general manager feels she should be on the top squad.
“She doesn’t care about individual accolades, but our franchise will continue to say that Paige Bueckers is a no-brainer, All-WNBA first team player, and we don’t need validated by other people’s votes,” Miller said.
Many eyes were focused on the fit of the two guards alongside Bueckers coming into the year as well. Miller re-signed the veteran Ogunbowale in the offseason and drafted UConn’s Azzi Fudd with the top selection in the 2026 draft.
The plan was for all three to share the floor, and as Miller pointed out, they only started together for 22 games of the 44-game season. But he liked what he saw, and said that analytics showed the three to be successful when they played together. The trio held a net rating of +7.5 in their 602 minutes together in 2026. Miller also liked how the usage shook out.
“When those three all started together in those games, Paige was taking around 16 shots a game, Azzi 12 shots and Arike just over 11,” Miller said. “The average fan may not have realized that, and so I just think there was obviously things that you could point to that were successful.”
Miller felt like there was still some left on the table as far as the team’s lineups. While the team knew that drafting Fudd meant playing with three guards, they also felt they could “play the opposite” and plug in a bigger player like Awak Kuier, Alysha Clark or Maddy Siegrist on the wing.
While Fudd was healthy, she never had the chance to play next to a frontcourt of Kuier, Shepard and Alanna Smith, which the team eventually utilized.
Kuier did get to start at the three alongside Bueckers, Ogunbowale, Smith and Shepard for four straight games prior to the FIBA World Cup break, with Smith missing the rest of the season after. Her seven-block outing against the Indiana Fever was the highlight of a late-season breakout for the forward.
Miller said Kuier, who led the WNBA in block percentage, was the best rim protector in the league this season and pointed out that she shot 50% from the field while landing just under 40% from three.
“She sees herself as a four and enjoys playing the four, but she also enjoys with lineups playing the three. And we didn’t get there until later in the season for a variety of reasons, but you saw that she can play multiple positions, she can defend multiple positions,” Miller said. “I think our league really got to see that Awak’s best days are still ahead of her.”
The 6-foot-6 forward is the team’s top player who isn’t already under contract for 2027, entering restricted free agency this offseason. Miller said retaining Kuier is “absolutely” a priority.
“She’s a priority,” Miller said. “Restricted free agency gives some of the incumbent team some advantages in negotiations, but obviously there’ll be a lot of interest in Awak. I know our players and our fanbase and our coaches would like her to return in a Dallas uniform.”
Her return would certainly help the team with Miller’s biggest “growth area” for Fernandez next season — defense. The team’s defensive rating ranked sixth, trailing five playoff teams, and the Wings opened the playoffs by surrendering 104 points.
The coaching staff having a year under their belts will help with the creation of a defensive identity, Miller said, as will challenging players to make strides on that end in the offseason. However, significant responsibility also falls on the front office to make improvements to the roster.
“Our defensive improvement will come in a variety of areas,” Miller said. “Certainly roster construction, and that falls on myself and our GM shoulders to continue to help build a roster that can have a successful identity on how the coaching staff would like to play.”
This offseason won’t look like the condensed one that took place prior to the 2026 season, and the Wings won’t have a No. 1 draft pick to decide on this time around. They have two first-round selections, though, and will have to evaluate the free agency and trade landscape as well when the time comes. Miller said his staff is wasting no time preparing.
“It will be a busy off season for my staff and I,” Miller said. “But we get to work immediately, and the overall theme is we’ve got to get better. We’ve got to improve the roster to help the players and help the coaches.”
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