Paige Bueckers is No. 1 pick in
WNBA draft, going to the Dallas Wings
[April 15, 2025]
By DOUG FEINBERG
NEW YORK (AP) — Paige Bueckers is ready for her next chapter after a
whirlwind week that started with her helping UConn win its 12th
national championship and ended with her becoming the WNBA's No. 1
draft pick by the Dallas Wings.
“I’m just extremely excited to be there. I’ve only heard great
things about the city," Bueckers said of Dallas. “So excited to
start that new chapter and be in a new city and explore that and
give everything I have to the Wings organization. I know we’re going
to do great things, and it’s a fresh start, and I think we’re all
ready to do something special.”
The versatile UConn star is the latest Huskies standout to go No. 1,
joining former greats Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, Maya
Moore and Breanna Stewart.
Bueckers has had a busy time since helping UConn win the title on
April 6. She has split her time between New York and Connecticut
doing morning and nighttime talk shows. On Sunday, she took part in
the Huskies' championship parade.
“I’m glad New York and Storrs are pretty close to each other because
there’s been a lot of back and forth,” Bueckers said. “Part of me
wants to stay at school, celebrate with the team, be with them,
enjoy the last moments of being in Storrs, and the other part of me
has to get ready for the next chapter.”
Bueckers got to enjoy the moment Monday night with her UConn
teammates and coach Geno Auriemma who were in the audience at the
draft, which was held at The Shed in New York. Bueckers choked up
when talking about her former Huskies teammates.
“They mean everything to me. They helped me get through highs and
lows,” Bueckers said.
Seattle followed Dallas' selection by taking 19-year-old French star
Dominique Malonga with the No. 2 pick. The 6-foot-6 Malonga was part
of the silver medal winning French Olympic basketball team. She's
the first French player to be drafted this high since 1997, when
Isabelle Fijalkowski went second.
“I was so proud to achieve that goal,” Malonga said. “It showed that
French basketball has evolved as we’ve seen the past few years on
the NBA side. We see Wemby (Victor Wembanyama) and Zaccharie (Risacher)
show that French basketball is great.”
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UConn's Paige Bueckers reacts after being selected first overall by
the Dallas Wings during the first round of the WNBA basketball
draft, Monday, April 14, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
The Washington Mystics, with a new coach and
general manager, then took Notre Dame's Sonia Citron with the third
pick, and Southern Cal's Kiki Iriafen with No. 4. They also took
Kentucky guard Georgia Amoore with the sixth pick. Amoore was
dressed on the WNBA's orange carpet by NBA star Russell Westbrook,
who has a clothing brand called Honor The Gift. Amoore said
Westbrook designed her outfit and was amazing to work with since
they first got together on a Zoom session last November.
“It’s phenomenal. He did such a good job,” Amoore said of Westbrook.
“It wasn’t just to put his name on something. He spent hours at the
hotel fitting it ... He’s been very active in the process. To have a
contact like that now, someone I can lean on or into is amazing.
It’s the start. You’ll see this happen more often. It’s a blessing
to be the first one to do this.”
The expansion Golden State Valkyries made Juste Jocyte of Lithuania
with the first draft choice in franchise history.
Connecticut had consecutive picks and took LSU's Aneesah Morrow
seventh and N.C. State's Saniya Rivers eighth.
Los Angeles took Alabama's Sarah Ashlee Barker ninth. Chicago
drafted Ajsa Sivka from Slovenia 10th, and then TCU's Hailey Van
Lith next.
Dallas closed out the first round drafting Aziah James of N.C.
State.
Six teams didn’t have picks in the opening round as New York,
Indiana, Minnesota, Phoenix and Atlanta traded away their picks. Las
Vegas forfeited its pick following an investigation by the league in
2023 that found the franchise violated league rules regarding
impermissible player benefits and workplace policies.
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