The 2026 WNBA Draft will take place on April 13, about a week and a half after the 2026 NCAA Tournament Championship. Azzi Fudd is heading a UConn squad that hopes to repeat their 2025 win, something the team took a big running leap toward on Sunday when they beat Notre Dame and punched their ticket to the Final Four in Phoenix.
Fudd is also expected to be a high pick in this year's draft, and plenty of mock drafts have her going as the No. 1 overall pick. That would give UConn back to back No. 1 picks (Paige Bueckers had the honor last year), and would also mean that Fudd would end up on the Dallas Wings (just like Bueckers).
Drafting Fudd to the Wings is a good idea for a few big reasons, one of which is the fact that she and Bueckers played together for four years and were a bit of a seamless machine. A lot of fans are open to the prospect of bringing Fudd to Dallas — and that includes UConn graduate and WNBA legend Diana Taurasi.
“Dallas is gonna have a tough decision to make, and it’s a decision you want when you have the number one pick, and you have all this talent coming out,” Taurasi said during an appearance on on NBC Sports with Natalie Esquire and Terrika Foster-Brasby. “I think just from a bird’s eye view, you would say Azzi is the number one pick. The synergy that she has with Paige on the court — they play great together.”
Like a lot of people, Taurasi said that Fudd's previously experience with Bueckers could help the Wings.
Azzi Fudd is having a strong season
Fudd has been enjoying a career-high kind of season so far, and her performances in the March Madness tournament are only backing that up. “The way Azzi’s been playing — just dominant — she looks on the court on both ends right now,” Taurasi added, a reference to how well Fudd has controlled the court this year. “I would say she’s probably the one pick.”
Taurasi, who was the No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft, also noted that players are always nervous about the draft, even if they also know they have a strong shot at being a high pick. The WNBA is the best professional league in the world, and having the chance to play professional basketball is a huge honor.
Fudd will be a strong asset to any WNBA team she ends up on, but it's difficult to deny that reuniting her with Bueckers would be special — and that's an exciting thing for Wings fans to start thinking about.