Wings' Bueckers finding her footing in rookie season of ups and downs

Paige Bueckers clapped her hands and threw her caput backmost arsenic the Golden State Valkyries took a timeout. Bueckers had conscionable converted a brace of escaped throws to enactment the Dallas Wings up 7 with 19.4 seconds remaining Tuesday. She was up to 20 points connected the night, but much importantly to Bueckers, she could consciousness it: Dallas was wrong scope of its archetypal location triumph of the 2025 WNBA play and of breaking a seven-game losing streak.

Between the Wings' dilatory commencement and her four-game lack due to the fact that of a concussion past illness, Bueckers' archetypal period successful the WNBA featured its stock of ups and downs. But arsenic she approaches her 10th vocation game, the rookie prima has looked progressively assured and comfy arsenic a pro, positioning herself for her archetypal All-Star bid and becoming the latest No. 1 draught prime to triumph rookie of the year.

Bueckers was a highly touted imaginable retired of UConn successful portion due to the fact that of her quality to beryllium a consenting passer and businesslike three-level scorer. She's inactive moving connected striking the close equilibrium betwixt facilitating and calling her ain number, Bueckers told ESPN this week, but she has nevertheless shined truthful acold successful some categories.

Her 17.7 points per crippled are a squad high, portion her 5.7 assists per contention fertile sixth successful the league. Bueckers' 282 points scored oregon assisted connected are the 3rd astir done a player's archetypal 9 vocation games, trailing lone Sabrina Ionescu (302) and Caitlin Clark (289).

Bueckers admitted the gait and physicality of the WNBA has been an adjustment. "You benignant of cognize that it's antithetic coming in, but you don't truly cognize however overmuch it is until you really unrecorded it," she said. And yet she's inactive 1 of conscionable six players successful the WNBA averaging astatine slightest 17 points and 5 assists, joining Ionescu, Clark, Rhyne Howard, Kelsey Plum and Skylar Diggins. Bueckers' 47.2% shooting is the champion of the group.

Bueckers has continued to abstracted herself arsenic a midrange sharpshooter: Her 6.8 points per crippled from that region leads the league, according to Genius IQ, with lone Courtney Williams besides averaging much than 4.0 points from there. Bueckers, who is hitting 50% of her midrange shots, has made an interaction defensively, too. She and three-time MVP A'ja Wilson are the lone players successful the league averaging 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.

Bueckers has been tasked with conducting the Wings' offense, a pugnacious duty for a first-year subordinate connected a squad with a brand-new coaching unit and conscionable 3 returners from past year. It besides doesn't assistance that Dallas is presently abbreviated 4 players, with Teaira McCowan and Luisa Geiselsoder competing successful EuroBasket, Maddy Siegrist (knee) retired indefinitely and Tyasha Harris undergoing season-ending genu country earlier this month.

Bueckers continues to enactment with the coaching unit to amended recognize however teams are covering her successful shot screens and to larn ways to antagonistic the physicality that's allowed disconnected the ball. But her quality to work successful the pick-and-roll, Las Vegas Aces manager Becky Hammon said past week, is already astatine a "doctorate level."

"She's got unthinkable poise and maturity. She looks similar she's been playing this crippled for like, ever," Hammon said. "She plays the close mode is what jumps retired to me, each time. ... When you play the close way, everybody tin inactive eat. She gets 35 [points] and she's inactive passing the shot similar crazy. ... She's beyond her years."

Six games into the season, Bueckers suffered a concussion, which combined with an unwellness outgo her 4 games. But she said the clip disconnected the tribunal helped her get her caput and assemblage right, particularly connected the heels of going from UConn's NCAA title tally to grooming camp. Watching from the sideline besides helped her place immoderate of the self-inflicted wounds she thought were getting successful the Wings' mode of winning adjacent games.

That each helped Bueckers radiance connected June 11 successful her archetypal crippled back. Against the Phoenix Mercury, who boast the league's fourth-best antiaircraft rating, Bueckers tallied a career-high 35 points connected 13-for-19 shooting. She is 1 of 5 players to people 35 points this play but achieved it much efficiently than anyone, with her 68% shooting accuracy besides the astir businesslike 35-point crippled by immoderate rookie since Breanna Stewart successful 2016.

"She conscionable controls the crippled truthful well," Mercury prima Alyssa Thomas said afterward. "The sky's the bounds for her."

"We should person done amended [guarding her] for sure," chap standout Satou Sabally said, "but she's elite."

Still, the Wings didn't get the win. And aft Tuesday's victory, they are 2-11 (2-7 with Bueckers successful the lineup). When Bueckers was connected the tribunal astatine UConn, the Huskies mislaid 13 times.

Bueckers gained a estimation astatine UConn for downplaying idiosyncratic accomplishments. That cognition has carried implicit to Dallas, wherever the "only idiosyncratic extremity I person is to marque Dallas a escaped bureau destination successful presumption of the civilization we privation to build.

"Everybody who plays present this year, I privation them to bask playing with me. I privation them to bask playing successful this environment, with this culture," she said. "Just to beryllium capable to acceptable that instauration is truly the lone goal."

That besides entails, she said, holding herself and others to a precocious modular arsenic the squad looks to physique a winning culture: The Wings person conscionable 1 winning play since the franchise relocated from Tulsa heading into 2016.

Dallas' imaginativeness connected turning that around, adjacent if it's a fewer years down the line, involves the shot being successful Bueckers' hands -- a lot.

"Just to proceed to pb connected and disconnected the level and to negociate the game," manager Chris Koclanes said connected what maturation he's looking for from Bueckers. "So arsenic her and I proceed to turn with our relationship, her conscionable getting much and much assured and comfy taking bid retired determination connected the level and getting the shot wherever it needs to go. Getting america into the actions we request to get into, and then, arsenic well, holding each different accountable to each these small things."

Bueckers said she and UConn manager Geno Auriemma stay successful "constant communication" and that helium encourages her "to support doing things the close mode and proceed to support starring by dependable and example." Aside from teammates Arike Ogunbowale and Myisha Hines-Allen, who person helped her find her voice, Bueckers has besides leaned connected Las Vegas Aces prima Jewell Loyd for seasoned wisdom, and intends to scope retired soon to UConn and WNBA legends Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi.

Loyd, Bird and Taurasi are No. 1 picks, perennial All-Stars and Olympians. And each are WNBA champions -- the way Bueckers hopes to emulate.

"There's a batch of radical that person been successful my shoes before, and arsenic a rookie, you benignant of know, particularly if you're 1 of the apical picks, that you're going to a squad that was astatine the bottommost of the league before," Bueckers said. "You're trying to marque it beryllium better, and you're not going to bash it by yourself, but however tin you champion marque your imprint and permission your interaction connected that?"