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The Los Angeles Sparks “would have been” the preference of UConn star Paige Bueckers in the 2025 WNBA draft lottery, according to ESPN’s Michael Voepel.
The Dallas Wings wound up winning the lottery, with the Sparks getting the No. 2 pick. As a result, the Wings are in position to take Bueckers, who’s universally considered the best prospect in the class.
Playing in Los Angeles comes with obvious commercial advantages. A player as notable as Bueckers is going to get big endorsements anywhere she goes, but it’s simply a different ballgame to be in L.A.
The Sparks are also a little more attractive than the Wings in basketball terms.
The franchise has fallen on hard times. Hiring Derek Fisher as head coach in 2019 was a massive miscalculation that had a big ripple effect as a roster that once boasted Candace Parker, Chelsea Gray and Nneka Ogwumike was steadily dismantled.
But now the Sparks have a young cornerstone in Cameron Brink, who averaged 7.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game before suffering a season-ending torn ACL in 2024. Rickea Jackson exceeded expectations as well with 13.4 points per game on 45.6 percent shooting.
The Wings, meanwhile, have been unable to find any consistency from year to year since relocating to Texas in 2016. The last two seasons sum up the franchise’s run.
Dallas won 22 games and reached the second round of the playoffs, an achievement that caused head coach Latricia Trammell to get emotional. It looked like the team was on an upward trajectory.
Instead, the Wings lost 31 games and fired Trammell in October.
Hiring Curt Miller a two-time Coach of the Year and the 2017 Executive of the Year, as the general manager is a sign of intent from Dallas. However, its general reputation will continue to precede the organization until it starts winning with regularity.
Perhaps the arrival of Bueckers will be the thing to make that happen.