With the dust settling from what was another very active free agency period, it is becoming more clear which teams are in transitionary periods. Those teams include the Phoenix Mercury, Connecticut Sun, Indiana Fever, Washington Mystics and Los Angeles Sparks.
That conversation also ought to include Texas’ lone WNBA team as of today.
While there has been a bit of shuffling at the top of the draft board, it appears the Wings will remain perched atop said board at No. 1. While a few mocks have Dallas delivering a shocker by selecting Olivia Miles out of Notre Dame No. 1 overall, the consensus top pick still appears to be UConn’s Paige Bueckers.
Regardless of who the Wings select, it is looking more and more as if 2025 will be a pivotal year for this franchise.
Natasha Howard mentioned on her social media shortly after the season concluded that she would not return to Dallas. Howard is now in Indiana. In addition, the Wings were part of a multi-team deal that saw Satou Sabally bring her talents to the Mercury where she will join forces with Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper.
One thread that binds Phoenix and Indiana together is that those are franchises that either have made investments – or announcements of investments – in state-of-the-art practice facilities.
The Wings also underwent changes in its front office. Amber Cox departed from the Wings to become the new general manager at the Fever in the stead of Lin Dunn. Chris Kolcanes replaces Latricia Trammell as head coach.
It was only two short seasons ago that the Wings advanced to the WNBA semifinals against the Las Vegas Aces. Dallas even had bragging rights prior to the 2023 All-Star break in Sin City as the Wings were one of only two teams that year to earn a victory over the Aces prior to that midpoint – Connecticut was the other.
The successful 2023 meant that the Wings would be entering 2024 with heightened expectations. Unfortunately for the Wings, those lofty goals were not met and Dallas found itself back in the lottery.
One of the problems with the Wings organization over the years is it has had a problem keeping marquee players. This simply did not only happen with Howard and Sabally. Skylar Diggins-Smith and Liz Cambage before then also had noteworthy fallings out with Dallas.
And if the Wings were unable to convince Howard and Sabally to stay, what does this mean for Arike Ogunbowale’s future in North Texas past this season? The Wings are set to move into a downtown Dallas venue starting with the 2026 season. Ideally, Dallas would want to move into its new digs with Ogunbowale as its centerpiece.
One problem – Ogunbowale is an unrestricted free agent going into 2026.
Given that Ogunbowale once played on a Wings team that was only three wins shy of the Finals, she is not going to want to remain on a team that may not necessarily be contenders. If Greg Bibb and Curt Miller are unsuccessful in keeping Ogunbowale in Dallas, where could she go?
The most natural fit may be the Chicago Sky. After all, Ogunbowale played her college ball at Notre Dame – and there is a huge Fighting Irish fanbase in Chicago. In addition, she is a native of Milwaukee and many from Wisconsin make the brief trek down I-94 to see one of its favorite daughters ball out at Wintrust Arena whenever the Wings play the Sky in the Windy City.
If Ogunbowale decides to call it a career in Dallas, that franchise effectively becomes Bueckers’ team. In fact, does the Dallas front office even decide to look to 2027 to try to land JuJu Watkins to create their own version of Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark?
In fairness to the Wings, Ty Harris, NaLyssa Smith and DiJonai Carrington are solid additions. Whoever Dallas does indeed select first overall will be too – regardless of if it is Bueckers or Miles.
But the Wings can be seen as a team that may contend for that eighth and final playoff berth only to miss out by a few games. The 2025 rendition of the Dallas Wings – and what happens in the ensuing offseason – will tell us if the Wings can re-emerge as contenders or if their immediate future will include lots of peering at ping-pong balls.
