As Azzi Fudd’s Rookie Season Is Cut Short, Did Dallas Make the Right Choice at No. 1?

No. 1 pick Azzi Fudd’s rookie season ended prematurely as the Wings announced on Wednesday she was set to undergo an arthroscopic procedure to address ongoing soreness in her right knee. It’s a disappointing end to what was a great first season, but Dallas and Fudd will play it safe considering the former UConn star’s previous knee injuries.

The Wings have stumbled of late, losers of eight of their last 11 games. Still, the Paige Bueckers–led bunch holds onto the final playoff spot with a 4.5-game cushion on the Fire and eight games left on the schedule. Fudd’s absence undoubtedly hurts the Wings down the stretch and into the postseason should they hold on and make the playoffs.

The rookie guard last played on Aug. 5 and Dallas has dropped four of its five games since. Fudd is the team’s best volume three-point shooter as she finishes her rookie year hitting 39.7% of her 5.2 attempts from deep per game. She was brought in to become an elite floor spacer for Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale, which would allow the Wings’ lead guards more room to operate.

In year one, she accomplished just that and even allowed key offseason acquisition Jessica Shepard to thrive down low as a do-it-all forward for Dallas. Shepard has been one of the WNBA’s best surprises this season and earned her first All-Star nod as she’s averaged a career-high 13.9 points, 11.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game.

Fudd came off the bench for coach Jose Fernandez to start the season. She had an underwhelming debut and missed the second game of the year due to an abundance of caution with her right knee.

Once she came back for Dallas’s next game, though, she began to force Fernandez’s hand into making the franchise’s newest star a bigger part of the game plan. In Fudd’s final game off the bench, she dropped 24 points and made six threes with three steals and two blocks on the defensive end in a decisive win over the Liberty on May 24.

Fernandez put Fudd into his first five after that performance, which quickly paid off. In her first game as a starter, she had 22 points in what was a huge win over the defending champion Aces where Shepard had a massive triple-double with 22 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists. The Wings never looked back from there as Fudd has quickly become integral to the operation as the franchise hopes to make its first playoff appearance since 2023.

Ups and downs have naturally been a part of the UConn standout’s first season, as is the case for any player adjusting to the next level. Fudd has been inefficient at times, but even when she has an off night from the floor, she’s impacted the game elsewhere. She leads her team with 2.5 stocks (steals plus blocks) as a defensive playmaker who can end possessions and relay that into quick offense. Fudd’s 1.7 steals per game are the most of any rookie and tied for the third-most across the WNBA.

Without a doubt, she makes her team better and raises the floor of what the Wings can accomplish when she’s available. Per PBP Stats, Dallas has scored 7.6 points more per 100 possessions with Fudd on the floor vs. when she’s off. Defensively, the Wings allow nearly three points less per 100 possessions with Fudd on the court.

Her absence has already been felt and that will only continue down the stretch of the season. The Wings aren’t a true title contender this year, however, which makes the decision to play it safe with her knee injury the right call. Even if Dallas bottoms out or has a quick playoff exit, Fudd is a key member of its core alongside Bueckers. The top pick made a true impact over her first season and even won the three-point contest at All-Star weekend in the process.

Did Dallas make the right choice with Azzi Fudd at the top of the draft?

For better or worse, Fudd will likely be tied to Lynx superstar guard Olivia Miles for the rest of her career. Minnesota chose Miles at No. 2 after Fudd came off the board as Cheryl Reeve found her guard of the future to help the Lynx chase the franchise’s first title since 2017.

Miles hasn’t just been the WNBA’s best rookie, she’s been one of the best players in the entire league. She led the Lynx to the top of the standings as superstar forward Napheesa Collier missed the first 27 games of the season due to offseason ankle surgeries. There was some level of concern that Miles could take a step back once Collier was back, but the pair have thrived next to each other and have Minnesota in position as the team to beat come playoff time.

As the best player on the league’s best team, Miles has a borderline MVP case (A’ja Wilson remains the frontrunner amid yet another dominant season). Her first WNBA season is an anomaly, one of the best rookie years we’ve ever seen.

No matter how good Fudd was and how cleanly she fit Dallas’s long-term plans, there’s a clear question as to whether the Wings made the right choice with how outstanding Miles continues to be. She’s must-watch TV, one of the WNBA’s most exciting players.

However, Miles wasn’t the clear top choice ahead of the 2026 draft. Seattle’s Awa Fam even had some buzz in the top three of her, Fudd and Miles. Hindsight is 20/20, but you can’t fault general manager Curt Miller for making the right choice for the franchise. Dallas already has one of the league’s best young guards in Bueckers, which would bring a question as to whether a hypothetical Bueckers-Miles pairing could work.

Yes, talent over fit is a thing. However, entering the draft, Fudd was one of, if not the top talents in her class. She won an NCAA title alongside Bueckers in 2025, where Fudd was the one who was named the NCAA tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. The following year, Fudd had her best collegiate season yet as a first-team All-American who averaged 17.3 points per game and connected on an incredible 44.7% of her 6.7 three-point attempts per game.

The injury history was always a question, yes, but the Wings have made a clear emphasis on the long game with Fudd’s continued WNBA development.

Although Miles is incredible, that doesn’t take away from what Fudd brings to Dallas, which had a clear need for a player with her skillset. The two will be intertwined throughout their respective careers, but each has clearly shown the impact they can bring over the next decade-plus, just in different ways. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

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