The People’s Princess is coming to Dallas.

Monday night, The Dallas Wings selected UConn standout Azzi Fudd with the No. 1 pick. Fudd is already making history before settling foot on the court in North Texas. The Wings also drafted fellow Huskie Paige Bueckers No. 1 last year. The duo are the first back-to-back No. 1 picks in Wings history.

Fudd’s outside shooting grabs attention right away, but her résumé runs much deeper. She is a national champion, the 2025 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player, and a 2026 All-American who helped lead UConn back to another Final Four. That kind of winning background clearly mattered to Dallas.

With pick No. 31, the Wings added Tennessee forward Zee Spearman, a 6-foot-4 frontcourt player who averaged 11.7 points and 6.0 rebounds last season. She gives Dallas another young interior option and one more prospect to develop.

Last ‌season, ‌the ‌Wings seemed like a team scrambling to find its identity. With a new coach and staff, they are looking to build a team with limitless potential. Arike Ogunbowale is back, re-signing with the team where she tops the scoring charts already. Awak Kuier comes back from Europe; she adds reach to the frontcourt, plus quickness, and that extra flexibility on defense. Dallas now boasts a solid scoring anchor as well as a promising big up front, the lineup is finally moving in an upward direction.

Familiar Favorites Back on the Court

Dallas ‌has ‌brought ‌back familiar faces like Grace Berger, Aziaha James, JJ Quinerly, Maddy Siegrist, and Li Yueru, giving the team stronger options and familiarity in both the backcourt and frontcourt. Dallas ‌traded for ‌Diamond Miller for Rayah Marshall, acquiring the promising young forward-center from the Connecticut Sun to shake up their frontcourt setup. 

Around this main group, the Wings signed key experienced players like Alanna Smith, Jessica Shepard, and Lindsay Allen. Smith provides height, solid defense, and reliable play up front. Shepard adds strong rebounding along with toughness down low. Allen hands Dallas a steady point guard who can steer the attack better. Then came draft night, which layered on even more: bringing Fudd and Spearman into the fold.

Training camp contracts were given to Amy Okonkwo, Costanza Verona, Shyanne Sellers, Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu as well; all these players pushing hard for roster spots as camp approaches.

Putting together the main lineup stands apart from hauling in players to battle over positions in training camp, and all those decisions add up to a single aim: the Wings aim to bulk up, layer on some reserves, and shape a lineup that works better with their top playmakers at the helm.

Why Dallas Picked the Princess

Following ‌the ‌draft, ‌Curt Miller stressed that the Wings saw way beyond Azzi Fudd’s shooting skills. “We can’t be more pleased to draft Azzi Fudd, a true winner, competitor, hard worker, one of the most unselfish superstars at the collegiate level,” Miller explained.

He highlighted traits that set her apart for Dallas. “Defensively, she competes. She’s intelligent. She’s got a great basketball IQ and then the intangibles, which were ultimately the deciding factor for us, is that she’s a unifier in the locker room, a great teammate, and has all the characteristics that we’re trying to accumulate in that locker room.”

She also arrives with built-in chemistry with All-Star guard Paige Bueckers. Fudd teamed up with Bueckers at UConn: there, they shaped one of the toughest backcourts in women’s college hoops, and steered the Huskies to a pair of Final Four runs plus that 2025 title win. All of this hands Dallas more than just a skilled guard; but a duo already proven to click and triumph side by side.

Fitting In With the Flock

Jose Fernandez laid out how she meshes on the court just as plainly; extra outside shooting, improved spacing, a talent who slides right in next to Paige Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale, that’s the aim for the Wings. “When we went through this process and you’re building this roster, I think we needed to address 3-point shooting and perimeter shooting, the floor being spaced,” Fernandez noted. “I think now having Paige, Arike, and Azzi on the floor together and what we addressed in free agency with our front line; there’s definitely different lineups that we can play.”

Maddy ‌Siegrist ‌spots ‌that match right away. Back in her Villanova days, she played against Fudd and the Huskies in the Big East, before being drafted to the WNBA in 2023, and Siegrist gets that Dallas snagged way more than just a scoring machine. “She’s a great player,” Siegrist said. “She does so many things well. Not only is she a shooter, but a great defender as well. I think that’s a great piece that she’s bringing into the league.”

Fudd hands Dallas one more outside danger too, something defenses must handle on the spot. “I think anytime you can shoot the ball as efficiently and [as] tough as her, I think it’s just great,” Siegrist said. “I think you’re just going to spread the floor, open it up. It’ll be [a] great problem to have.”

A Perfect Pick for Dallas

That’s the simplest angle on why this choice makes sense for Dallas. Fudd reshapes the court’s layout; she offers the Wings another option to exploit those defensive slides and pounce on any pause, while lightening the load of her teammates.

Siegrist captured that view perfectly. “I think anytime you get a No. 1 pick in the draft, you’re excited to bring this player in and just continue to build and grow here in Dallas,” she said.

That ‌really ‌points ‌out a key shift from last season. The Wings relied so much on their guards, often without solid backup around them, and the lineup seemed lopsided at times. This current group feels put together: Allen offers reliable control in the backcourt; Smith delivers a steadier force down low. Shepard chips in with boards and grit, Kuier provides reach plus potential, Marshall serves up another post player still growing into her role, and Spearman rounds out the frontcourt options. On paper, Dallas appears tougher to unsettle or overwhelm, way more ready to back up the backcourt rotation.

Those ‌improvements ‌could possibly ‌bump up the key stats right from the start. Fernandez pointed out the way a stronger frontcourt ought to open lanes for Fudd, whether during quick transitions or in set halfcourt plays: “I just like how she’s going to get open in transition and also in the half court where you can run so many things,” Fernandez said. “Her skills as a shooter, sprinting off pin-downs; off staggers; off flares. She picks up on defenses too when she curls, and I figure her all-around game, teamed with the players we’ll put out there beside her, will ease plenty of pressure on her stepping in as a rookie.”

Fernandez flagged how firmer inside work craft cleaner looks for Bueckers, which ought to pry open extra room for Ogunbowale and Fudd along the edges. “When you look at this roster and you look at Paige, Arike, Azzi, Aziaha, Maddy, and the front line; we’re tough to guard with [our backcourt] on the floor,” he said. “You add Jess and Alanna and you involve them in pick-and-roll situations with Paige, it’s going to open up a lot of things for Arike and Azzi out on the perimeter.”

Work remains, naturally. Chemistry still needs to be built. Roles still have to be earned. Not all camp prospects will stick. But compared to last year’s roster, this group looks far more built to compete and contend.

Azzi Fudd‌ shows ‌up ‌in a way that stands apart from your typical top draft tale: she’s a sharpshooter with an almost perfect résumé, and those attributes plug gaps the team faced last season. The Wings aren’t simply tacking on a star, they’re shaping a lineup that actually fits together.

While 2025 focused on identifying a key foundation piece, 2026 seems like the moment when the Wings began building more around it. Dallas still has more work to do, but this lineup looks deeper, steadier, and better prepared to compete than it did last year. Fudd alone does not define all of that progress, but she fits in as one important piece for a team that seems to be moving in a clearer direction.