Paige Bueckers needs this player to unlock the Wings’ potential originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Paige Bueckers’ rookie year in the WNBA demonstrated her vast superstar potential. But it also showed that her Dallas Wings need a jolt in order to open a championship window.
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Dallas stumbled to a 10-34 record in Bueckers’ rookie season, as a young group took the first steps toward finding their way in the WNBA. The Wings are full of potential — after all, Dallas did beat the eventual WNBA Finals runners-up, the Phoenix Mercury, for two of their 10 wins. Bueckers led all rookies in scoring and was named second-team All-WNBA after five months in the league.
The Wings will have a new face on the bench in 2026, as general manager Curt Miller hired longtime South Florida head coach Jose Fernandez to the same role in Dallas. In order to help Fernandez run a successful program, Miller is going to have to look into convincing Awak Kuier to make the jump to the WNBA as well.
Awak Kuier went wild against Belgium
Kuier was the second overall pick in the 2021 WNBA Draft — and though the Finnish forward hasn’t played in the W since 2023, Dallas still owns her rights. Her highlight reel from a EuroBasket 2027 qualifier against Belgium demonstrates what she can offer the Wings if they are able to bring her back.
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Though Finland suffered a 95-71 loss in Thursday’s qualifier, Kuier scored 21 points, grabbed six rebounds and knocked down three 3-pointers.
The 6’6” Kuier’s comfort with shooting the basketball — as well as her ability to facilitate in transition — makes it easy to see her as an ideal complement to Bueckers in the Wings’ offense.
It is possible that Kuier could rejoin Dallas when the EuroLeague Women season ends in April, just in time for the start of the 2026 WNBA season (if there are no further holdups in collective bargaining negotiations). It remains to be seen how much interest the 24-year-old Kuier holds in a WNBA return, seeing as she signed for Turkish side Galatasaray in June — but a possible partnership with Bueckers is too tantalizing to ignore.
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