Why Dallas Wings Offense May Be Delayed in Taking Flight
The Dallas Wings' front office deserves a lot of credit for putting their current roster together for the upcoming WNBA season.
Not only did Dallas re-sign star guard Arike Ogunbowale, add former Minnesota Lynx forwards Alanna Smith and Jessica Shepard, and secure several key bench pieces, but they also drafted former UConn Huskies star guard Azzi Fudd with the WNBA Draft's No. 1 overall pick.
Therefore, this Wings team will not be short on talent or offensive firepower. But the question is whether they'll be able to build adequate chemistry and figure out shot distribution in time for the season, given all the moving pieces within their roster.
Why the Wings Offense Might Struggle Early in the Season
What's for sure is that Bueckers and Ogunbowale will command a lot of those. Paige's 15.1 field goal attempts per game last season were fifth-most in the league, while Arike's 13.9 field goal attempts per game were 11th-most. The only other team with two players in the top 11 was the Indiana Fever, with Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark (the latter of whom only played in 13 games).
The good news is that Fudd is coming from Geno Auriemma's UConn Huskies system, which focuses on team offense and therefore doesn't allow one player to dominate the shots. In other words, Azzi is used to not getting the lion's share of scoring opportunities. But those are three relatively high-volume offensive players within the same offense.
But the biggest factor is that Arike is still playing in China. She, Paige, and Azzi still haven't shared the court. And building chemistry between three players often takes quite a bit of time.
The good news is that Arike is coming back early next week, Paige and Azzi have a ton of chemistry from their time at UConn together, and there's still time for this chemistry to be built before the season starts.
Azzi on her chemistry with Paige:
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) April 14, 2026
"Paige is an incredible player. Everybody knows that, she's someone that makes playing basketball with easy. I think just the prior experience knowing how to play with her, play off of her will only help going into this"pic.twitter.com/cxIU2YlOpU https://t.co/OlsfrjYnGz
Not to mention that Smith and Shepard are also joining the offense and will likely finalize Dallas' starting five. Those are two other pieces that need to find their roles within the offense, and haven't been able to do so to the fullest with Arike still overseas.
Ultimately, this team is too talented to struggle for long. But perhaps fans should expect to see their rhythm and cohesion slightly off in the season's early games, before ultimately righting the ship and becoming one of the league's more lethal offensive attacks.
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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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