Dallas Wings reveal 6-foot-6 ‘secret weapon’ to help Paige Bueckers contend originally appeared on The Sporting News
Paige Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale need help.
Dallas Wings general manager Curt Miller knows this. In his first year on the job, the Wings have an 8-24 record despite boasting the WNBA’s probable Rookie of the Year in Bueckers.
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Under first-year head coach Chris Koclanes, Dallas ranks ninth in offensive rating and 10th in defensive rating. Sunday’s home loss to the Mystics was the Wings’ fifth in a row and 11th in the past 13 games; injuries to key players have decimated Dallas’ depth.
MORE: Mystics’ Sonia Citron sends Paige Bueckers a Rookie of the Year warning
But Miller has big plans to turn the Wings into a contender in the near future. The franchise is opening a new practice facility and moving to a new arena in the next two years. Miller plans to re-sign Ogunbowale this offseason, and he is counting on Bueckers to help recruit free agent talent to Dallas.
Yet, the Wings want to build sustainably through drafting and developing around Bueckers, who is famed for her ability to produce on or off the ball. One player Dallas is eyeing for the future is a 6’6” forward who last played in the WNBA in 2023, but remains in the picture for the franchise.
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“One of the most exciting players to talk about is Awak Kuier, who isn’t here,” Miller told Dallas Hoops Journal. “There’s just a lot of young people to continue to build with in the future.”
Awak Kuier was drafted second overall by the Wings in 2021. The Finnish forward played 86 regular-season games for Dallas between 2021 and 2023, averaging 2.6 points and 2.5 rebounds in 11.1 minutes per game. But she has spent the past two years overseas, winning the Italian league with Reyer Venezia before joining Turkish club Galatasaray in June.
In EuroLeague action with Reyer Venezia, Kuier demonstrated her immense potential, averaging 16.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.
It seems Miller and the Wings continue to believe in Kuier as a central part of the future, and only time will tell as to whether Bueckers’ emerging superstardom can lure the 23-year-old back to Dallas in 2026.
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