DALLAS — The Dallas Wings laid out the pink carpet and tiaras Thursday in welcoming Azzi Fudd to the team.
The introductory press conference for the 2026 No. 1 pick, nicknamed “The People’s Princess,” was certainly not lacking spectacle. In addition to the decor laid out at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas, players and staff were on theme with pink incorporated into outfits. While the leadup to this year’s draft lacked certainty at the top, the Wings’ process led them to Fudd as their clear choice.
“Since the moment we secured the number one pick, we set out on a plan to be deliberate, thorough with intention on evaluating where we got to ultimately, in picking Azzi Fudd,” Wings general manager Curt Miller said Thursday. “We traveled all over the world watching this incredible draft class, but it all came back, always, to Azzi.”
The team has kept a strong focus on elevating Fudd this week, even as excitement surrounds her reuniting with former UConn teammate and 2025 top pick Paige Bueckers. On Monday, Miller insisted that their evaluation of Fudd was based on her skills alone, rather than any connection with Bueckers.
Head coach Jose Fernandez was asked Thursday about a game he coached for South Florida against UConn in Fudd’s freshman year. Bueckers and Fudd combined for 12 of UConn’s 15 points in the fourth quarter of that win. But it was Fudd’s 3-pointer with 4:28 to go to put the team up nine that Fernandez remembers as the difference maker.
“[Fudd] had a dagger three late. It was a two-possession game in the Bahamas, and we had beaten Syracuse and Oregon,” he said. “But, yeah, she was the one that hurt us, not Paige.”
The selection and Thursday celebration capped a second straight offseason renovation for Dallas. In his first offseason as general manager last year, Curt Miller overhauled his team’s roster, hired a first-time WNBA head coach and brought in a star UConn guard with the No. 1 pick.
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Heading into the 2026 season, Miller has done all three of those things again, hoping to yield better results. The roster changes are less drastic, with eight players returning to training camp and few major offseason departures. While Fernandez will be making his debut on a WNBA bench, he’s been well-respected as a longtime college coach and was recently on staff for Team USA in the FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament.
Fudd is expected to have an immediate impact as well. While training camp will start for Fudd within a week of getting drafted, she’s ready to get in the gym and compete.
“It’s a super quick turnaround, but this is the best my body has felt,” Fudd said. “I’m super excited to finally be here to meet some of my teammates, to meet the staff.”
Those teammates include a core group of intriguing returners in the backcourt. Along with Bueckers, veteran star Arike Ogunbowale will look to have a bounceback season in 2026. Aziaha James and JJ Quinerly — both in attendance for Fudd’s press conference — both showed promise in their rookie seasons a year ago.
Fudd might see significant time alongside Bueckers and Ogunbowale, a potential starting trio with plenty of offensive firepower despite perceived limitations on the other end.
“When you look at those three playing together, I know the big concern is, how are those three going to play defensively? But other teams have to guard those three if they’re on the floor together at the same time as well,” Fernandez said.
There will be more new faces in the frontcourt, even as center Li Yueru and fourth-year forward Maddy Siegrist remain in the fold. Dallas welcomed forwards Alanna Smith and Jessica Shepard in free agency, the former earning co-Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2025 and the latter leading the league in field goal percentage (63.8%). Both are merely respectable scorers, having combined for 17.6 points per game in Minnesota last year, but they also bring value as playmakers.
Forward Awak Kuier also returns to Dallas on a guaranteed contract after a couple years overseas. The 6’6 forward, now 25 years old, is expected to be improved from her first three-year WNBA stint.
The Wings knew they had work to do in the frontcourt, especially after losing Haley Jones and Luisa Geiselsoder in the expansion draft. Miller said they went into a free agency with a short list of targets, and Shepard and Smith were among them.
“I looked at a couple names every night before I went to bed, and thought, ‘If we could get one of these post players, we are trending in the right direction,’” Miller said. “And when we landed the two that we targeted, I can’t tell you how excited we were.”
That free agency success “made it crystal clear” that Fudd would be the team’s pick, Miller said Monday after the draft.
With training camp starting Sunday, the staff is now tasked with working towards its final roster and figuring out which lineups will work best together. Dallas currently has 22 players, needing to whittle it down to 14 — consisting of 12 active players and two developmental spots.
The Wings expect some late arrivals, Miller said Monday, which is part of the reason why the camp roster is as large as it is. A mix of veterans, returnees and young talent will be competing for a spot alongside the team’s budding core.
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