The Dallas Wings won the 2025 Draft Lottery and, with it, a chance to draft UConn star Paige Bueckers. Pairing Bueckers with All-Star Arike Ogunbowale gave the Wings a lethal backcourt duo. However, the season hasn’t gone well so far. While Bueckers just had a career game against the Phoenix Mercury, she also missed significant time with a concussion, and the Wings are off to a miserable 10-1 start.
There is no doubt that Bueckers will be a star in the WNBA for quite some time, but she is not the only rookie who has been a bright spot for Dallas fans during this brutal start to the season. Luisa Geiselsöder, a second-round pick in 2020, has emerged as a pleasant surprise for the Wings.
Luisa Geiselsöder is finding her rhythm with the Wings
As a late draft pick in 2020, Luisa Geiselsöder didn’t join the Wings right away. Instead, the German center played in Europe, most recently for Basket Landes in France. While older rookies from Europe have found plenty of success in the WNBA recently, Geiselsöder is not the player most Wings fans expected to be one of the few bright spots early in the season.
Geiselsöder barely played at first but has been a big part of the Wings’ rotation since the team’s loss to the Seattle Storm. Since that game, she has been playing over twenty minutes per game. With Teaira McCowan out, Geiselsöder has even slid into the starting lineup for the Wings’ last two games.
Geiselsöder’s production has been solid. She even recorded a double-double against the Los Angeles Sparks and has been an efficient scorer with the exception of a 2-7 shooting performance against the Minnesota Lynx.
Compared to McCowan, Geiselsöder offers the Wings a more dynamic option at the center position. She has also shown the ability to space the floor, hitting four threes over her last four games. While her shooting percentage from long-range is not great for the season, Geiselsöder has shown the ability to hit threes while playing in France. Over 14 EuroLeague games, she hit 39.5 percent of her 43 attempts from three. With the Wings, she hasn’t been afraid to take shots from behind the arc, even if they haven’t been falling consistently.
Geiselsöder could develop into a solid role player with the Wings
The Wings will need solid role players around Paige Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale. Geiselsöder could develop into a complementary player around the two stars. She is only 25 years old—two years older than Bueckers—but already has experience playing professionally.
For now, Geiselsöder’s development with the Wings will have to endure a brief interruption, however. Like many international players, Geiselsöder will represent her country in EuroBasket. She is set to depart on June 14 and return for the Wings’ game on July 3.