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UConn star Paige Bueckers is projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft. The Dallas Wings secured the first pick, with many people assuming they will draft Bueckers.
In an excerpt of Hoffman Women's Sports shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, reporter Sabreena Merchant suggested that Bueckers isn't excited about the prospect of being drafted by the Wings.
"I have heard some rumblings that Paige isn't thrilled about going to Dallas," Merchant said. "I do wonder what sort of leverage she might use in this case because Paige makes a lot of money through NIL. More than she's going to make on a rookie contract. It's not as if she needs the WNBA.
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"She's already committed to join Unrivaled in 2026 if that league continues, so she will have opportunities to play basketball beyond that. We've never really seen a player use their leverage like this in the WNBA. Then again, no one's really had the extra year of eligibility to sort of maneuver this way. I don't know what Paige has planned, but could be interesting. We'll see."
Bueckers has played four games this season, averaging 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game while shooting 60.4% from the field.
The NCAA season is still young and a lot can happen from this moment until draft night, but Bueckers hasn't publicly discussed any bad feelings about playing in Dallas.
Paige Bueckers reacts to Wings winning draft lottery
After learning about the Wings getting the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft, Bueckers explained that she didn't watch the lottery.
"People think I'm lying. I actually didn't watch it. It was giving me too much anxiety," Bueckers said. "So I just decided to... whatever was going to happen, regardless of whether I was watching or not, so I just kind of let the things happen and figure out after."
When asked about the possibility of being drafted by the Texan franchise, Paige Bueckers did not get into much detail. This situation could get interesting if the player decides she doesn't want to go to Dallas.
