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Paige Bueckers Welcomed to Dallas by Fellow No. 1 Pick Anthony Davis

Ryan Phillips

Paige Bueckers was selected by the Dallas Wings with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft.
Paige Bueckers was selected by the Dallas Wings with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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Paige Bueckers got a big Dallas welcome on draft night.

The UConn guard was the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft, as the Dallas Wings snagged her with the top pick. Shortly after she was selected, a fellow Dallas basketball player welcomed her to the city. Mavericks big man Anthony Davis recorded a video congratulating Bueckers and expressing excitement that she'll also be in Dallas.

Davis is a fellow No. 1 pick, as the then-New Orleans Hornets selected him with the top pick in the 2012 NBA draft.

Davis and Bueckers have a lot in common. Both were McDonald's All-Americans in high school, both were named first-team All-Americans and national player of the year in college and both won a national championship.

Both are also new arrivals to Dallas, as Davis was traded to the Mavericks on February 2 in a deal that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. He'll now team with Bueckers to be the faces of basketball in the city.

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Ryan Phillips
RYAN PHILLIPS

Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism program.

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