The pressure stems from the moment the Dallas Wings called her name. Expectations have been sky-high ever since—and for good reason. Her résumé speaks volumes: 2025 NCAA National Champion, first freshman to win the Wooden Award Women’s Player of the Year honor, the first player in UConn history to reach 2,000 career points, and the school’s all-time leading scorer in NCAA Tournament play with 477 points. You name it—she’s done it. But the WNBA is nothing like college basketball. And while the GM might be experiencing some growing pains with the transition, he understands the process.
“I’m not gonna critique the basketball near as much, but I appreciate the command that she has of the game,” he shared. And if you consider that Bueckers was drafted on April 14, less than two weeks after winning the national championship at UConn, her performance makes even more sense. She reported to North Texas for training camp shortly afterward. Naturally, it will take time for her to adjust, just as it did for the No. 1 picks who came before her. Even last year, Caitlin Clark, despite already being hailed as the face of the league, had to go through many shortfalls of her own to adapt to the league.
And that’s exactly why most of the GMs favor her.
May 7, 2025; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers poses for a photo during the 2025 Dallas Wings Media Day. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
In the recent GM survey, several of them answered questions about their best picks for the season. And when it came to who had the best chances of winning the Rookie of the Year award, 73% of them gave their votes to Bueckers. So, yes, as they say, slow and steady wins the race. Hence, Coach Miller emphasised again how it’s all a work in progress: “And again, we’re just gonna get better and better. They’re all learning to play with each other. Training camps are so fast. But I’m just really excited about the potential. This group is gonna look a lot different in July than they do in May.”
And let us not forget that Bueckers is a team player. She’s not someone who focuses solely on oiling her own engine. Her game depends a lot on the pieces around her. So, considering how the team itself has not found its rhythm, it could be a little unfair to ask Bueckers to prove herself regardless. As Chris Koclanes had himself admitted, “Then in the third, I don’t know, maybe it was a little fatigue. We looked a little tired in a stretch.”
When the entire team is tired, how do you expect one rookie to be the kool-aid? That’s never the recipe that works in the long run. Hence, the team is giving Paige the time she needs to adjust, and honestly, she needs lots of it.
Paige Bueckers had very little “time” to adapt to her new team.
The former UConn sensation joined the Wings roster after playing 38 games during the 2024–25 season. Immediately after the draft, she was at practice with the Wings at College Park Center, the home arena of the University of Texas at Arlington. Since April 27, she’s been involved in 5-on-5 scrimmages, competitive shooting drills, and learning the initial system. But five days of practice and just two preseason games aren’t nearly enough for a rookie to adjust.
Remember when Caitlin Clark was under a similar microscope? Even the game-changer with over 19 records in her rookie year had her struggles adjusting to the W’s physicality. From a bruised eye to a Flagrant 1, she went through it all—and still came out on top, breaking records along the way.
So, the GM knows the drill. “Paige is going to have to make the adjustment,” Miller said in an interview with TIME, following a preseason game against the Aces.“The speed of the game, the rules of the game, the physicality—it’s all different. The veterans aren’t going to take it easy on the rookie. Paige is going to feel her rookie moment at some point.” He’s right. Vets never take it easy on rookies—especially not the No. 1 pick. But the Wings aren’t letting Bueckers face it alone.
The coaching staff is testing every strategy possible to help her adjust smoothly. And it’s not just the team rallying behind her. Her regular-season debut was played in front of a sold-out crowd, with fans proudly wearing her jersey and cheering her every move. Notable figures like basketball legend Nancy Lieberman and NBA star Tyrese Maxey even showed up to support. Now, the only thing everyone’s waiting for is Paige to find her rhythm and take off.
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