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Fans in Shambles Paige Bueckers Likely Heading to Wings After WNBA Draft Lottery

Los Angeles Sparks fans are lamenting likely losing out on Paige Bueckers after the 2025 WNBA Draft Lottery results.
Grant Young|
Mar 25, 2024; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) on the court for warm up before the game against the Syracuse Orange at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Mar 25, 2024; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) on the court for warm up before the game against the Syracuse Orange at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

While the WNBA doesn't play regular season games again until spring, Sunday marked one of the most important days on the league's calendar.

We're talking about the 2025 WNBA Draft Lottery, which started at 5 PM ET on November 17.

There were four teams competing for the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft (which is most likely going to be UConn Huskies star guard Paige Bueckers: the Los Angeles Sparks, the Dallas Wings, the Chicago Sky, and the Washington Mystics.

The lottery began with the No. 4 pick, which was given to the Mystics. Then the Sky (who were represented by Angel Reese) got the No. 3 pick.

At this point, the Los Angeles Sparks had the better odds (44.2%) to secure the No. 1 pick. But it ended up being the Dallas Wings (27.6%) odds who edged them out and won the 2025 WNBA Draft lottery.

And all indications are that this means Bueckers will be drafted by Dallas.

Many fans were hoping that Bueckers would be teaming up with 2024 WNBA rookie superstars Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson in Los Angeles.

But now that Bueckers is likely headed to the Wings, these fans are in their feelings.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PAIGE BUECKERS YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE AN LA SPARK 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭," one X user wrote with a gif of a person crying.

Other fans are asserting that because Bueckers technically has one year of NCAA eligibility after the 2024-25 season, she should return to UConn.

"Stay another year Paige. Use your COVID year," wrote one fan.

The Chicago Tribune's Julia Poe wrote, "Paige Bueckers to Dallas is... something".

This will be a tough pill to swallow for the Sparks franchise and fanbase.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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