The Dallas Wings are a week into training camp, with six practices in the books. Media members have been allowed in to observe roughly 30 minutes of each session at College Park Center. Here are the standout storylines so far.
2025 rookies coming in strong
Any time you step into the gym for training camp, one thing you won’t be able to miss is Paige Bueckers’ presence. The 2025 rookie of the year is vocal as a leader throughout practice and at times has spoken to the team in the post-practice huddle.
“Just taking ownership of who I want to be and who I want this team and who we all want this team to be,” Bueckers said about her leadership style.
First year head coach Jose Fernandez has stressed the importance of taking every practice and every possession seriously, and Bueckers’ competitiveness has been on full display. Whether she’s talking trash or taking issue with perceived uncalled fouls, it’d be difficult to accuse the second-year star of simply going through the motions of training camp.
On top of all of that, she’s continued to stand out with her play on the court. Bueckers has dominated offensively in each session that media has observed, whether by scoring or passing the ball. Any judgement about desired improvements — shooting more threes, getting to the rim and increased defensive impact — is best saved for game action, but plenty outside shots have been attempted and converted.
Aziaha James, Dallas’ other first-round pick in 2025, has also impressed. She’s been able to shake defenders at will, throw sharp passes and give a fierce defensive effort. Fernandez noted that she came to training camp in great shape, a credit to her playing in Unrivaled over the offseason.
“She’s electric in the open floor,” Fernandez said. “Now it’s about spacing and putting her right positions in the halfcourt.”
James, who is expected to come off the bench in 2026, showed flashes with three 20-point games as a rookie. Improved efficiency might be the biggest key for her remaining as a rotation staple in the coming season.
The point guard puzzle
While Bueckers is expected to make her starts at point guard, she won’t be spending all of her time at that spot; both Fernandez and general manager Curt Miller want her to be used off the ball as well. This is not only because she’s still dangerous in that role, but also to relieve her of the attention opponents will give her as a ballhandler and the effort she’s expected to exert defensively herself.
Which players are kept to be trusted in that role might be the biggest puzzle the Wings have yet to figure out.
“You have to have a great point guard to be able to move Paige around,” Miller said.
As of April 26, the Wings still have four candidates. Guards JJ Quinerly and Grace Berger are the two returning options in that spot, both having started 13 games in 2025. Quinerly impressed after making the roster as a third-round pick, averaging 6.5 points per game and shooting 38.9% from three.
Her season was ended early by a knee injury that required surgery, and she’s been held out of contact portions of practice to this point. Fernandez said the team is being “very careful” as she works toward a return.
Dallas also added two veteran options after losing Ty Harris in free agency. Odyssey Sims, who has had a few stints with the franchise, joins after averaging 10.3 points and 4.0 assists for Indiana last season.
“For us to be able to convince Odyssey to stay home and stay in the DFW market was really important,” Miller said. “So excited about what she brings on both sides. She’s a two-way player. She can really help our defense, but offensively, she can go score and be a second-unit scorer for us, and obviously move Paige off the ball and keep our tempo up.”
Lindsay Allen was another free agency pickup who is in the mix. However, the ninth-year guard is another player who has been limited during portions open to media.
Azzi Fudd’s first week
The No. 1 2026 pick is now a week into her first training camp, now the team’s only draft pick on the roster after Zee Spearman was waived Sunday.
Fernandez said on day one that he had to “yell at her” to take open shots, but the guard has otherwise earned praise from her coach and teammates.
Dallas said it plans to run plenty of plays for the sharpshooter, and that has been reflected in the five-on-five portions of practice. Practice players or teammates tasked with defending her have been forced to navigate numerous screens as to not let her come open beyond the arc.
“Everyone knows she’s an amazing shooter, but I think something that’s underrated is her off-ball movement,” forward Alysha Clark said. “She’s a fantastic cutter. She knows how to read the game.”
The rookie hasn’t necessarily lit it up from downtown in the portions of practice media has been able to deserve, but she’s had open looks from three and has been comfortable getting to a one-dribble pull-up jumper in the mid-range as well. Her first preseason game action is just days away on April 30.
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Another year at College Park Center
For a while, it was expected that the Wings wouldn’t be continuing to hold practice on the University of Texas-Arlington’s campus in 2026.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held for a dedicated practice facility back in September of 2025, with plans for opening in April of this year. By January, however, construction had yet to start and the move has been pushed back to next year.
As a result, Dallas has to continue dealing with the conflicts that come with sharing the venue. While specifics weren’t given, an event on campus on Thursday apparently brought enough inconvenience that Fernandez and Clark brought it up when speaking with media. Both looked to take the positives out of the setup.
“There’s an event happening here at UTA … So it forces you to have to lock in on the court and what you’re doing, which helps you,” Clark said. “When you travel, you go to away arenas, you know something may not go the right way you want it to, routine changes, and it’s all about how you can adapt to that.”
The College Park Center’s event calendar for May is mostly populated with Wings games and high school graduations. A number of those ceremonies will take place while Dallas is on an early-season road trip, but some come in the days before home contests on May 28 and June 1.
A lot more to be seen
Short open training camp periods only provide a limited look at what a team might be in the coming season, and that’s especially true for the Wings.
A number of the team’s expected key contributors either haven’t arrived yet or haven’t spent much time on the court.
Arike Ogunbowale, Jessica Shepard, Awak Kuier, Costanza Verona and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu are all yet to make a training camp appearance, mostly as a result of their play overseas. Of that group, only Fankam Mendjiadeu will be back in time for the team’s Monday media day, with most others set to arrive early in the week.
The exception to that is Kuier, who Miller said is awaiting her appointment with the consulate in her immigration process. No timeline has been shared for her arrival. Alanna Smith also had to depart from the team temporarily to ensure everything was straightened out with her visa.
Miller asked for patience with the team as the season kicks off because of this dynamic.
“Four of our top eight players going into this season are not in the building today,” Miller said when Smith, Ogunbowale, Kuier and Shepard were all absent. “I hope there’s a little bit of grace with this team and with this coaching staff in May, because when we get to game one, we will not have had things together very long.”
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