The Dallas Wings won the draft lottery for the second year in a row. After drafting Paige Bueckers in the 2025 draft, they will get to select another future star next year. The top of the 2026 draft is stacked, and the Wings will have several great players to choose from. Considering their success at UConn and personal relationship, reuniting Bueckers and Azzi Fudd could make a lot of sense. The Wings need a frontcourt boost, but they could find that in free agency and also bring back an older, more developed Awak Kuier.
However, WNBA history suggests that the Wings’ path to building a contender is to draft a big to pair with Bueckers. Four WNBA teams had back-to-back top picks on five occasions before the Wings. All of them selected a guard and a forward/center. Two of them won a championship not long after (one team twice), and one is currently in the process of building a contender.
Back-to-back top picks have led teams to a lot of success so far
It’s no surprise that landing back-to-back top draft picks leads teams to a lot of success. In most years, the number one pick is a future star, who can be a key piece on a title team. It is also not surprising to see that all teams that had back-to-back picks used them to select one frontcourt player and one backcourt player.
The Utah Starzz had the top picks in 1997 and 1998. They selected guard Dena Head and center Malgorzata Dydek. In 2002, the Starzz made the Conference Finals. The next team with back-to-back top picks was Seattle. The Storm drafted forward Lauren Jackson in 2001 and point guard Sue Bird in 2002. Two years later, they won a championship.
A bit over ten years later, the Storm secured back-to-back top picks again. In 2015, they drafted Jewell Loyd. One year later, they selected Breanna Stewart. They won titles in 2018 and 2020. While the Storm reaped the benefits of their lottery picks, the San Antonio Stars/ Las Vegas Aces collected their own lottery picks. They drafted Kelsey Plum first overall in 2017, A’ja Wilson in 2019, and Jackie Young in 2019. The trio won two titles in 2022 and 2023. This season, Wilson and Young led the Aces to another title.
The Indiana Fever had the first overall pick in 2023 and 2024. They drafted Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark. The two immediately formed a dynamic guard-big duo and led the Fever to a playoff appearance in Clark’s rookie season. Indiana returned to the playoffs this season, making a surprising run to the semifinals even though an injury kept Clark out for most of the season.
While WNBA history suggests that drafting a guard and a big with back-to-back top picks is a recipe for success, that doesn’t mean that the Wings can’t build a contender around Bueckers and Fudd with the right talent around them if that is the path they choose. Pairing a talented young guard with an equally talented young big is just the approach other teams chose to take.