For the third straight game, the Dallas Wings face a 2025 playoff team as the Minnesota Lynx visit Arlington on Thursday night. Tipoff is at the College Park Center at 7 p.m.
Dallas has a win and loss against 2025 playoff team following [its 77-72 loss to the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday night.](/dallas-wings/58691/wings-vs-dream-recap-azzi-fudd-held-out-of-home-opener-dallas-loses-77-72-to-atlanta) The game provides another opportunity for Dallas to showcase its improvement based on its busy offseason while showcasing the teams who had the first two picks in the 2026 WNBA Draft.
Because of a draft-day trade in 2025, the Lynx received the No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft despite finishing last season with a 34-10 regular-season record. Minnesota finished as the top team in the Western Conference and lost in four games in the Western Conference Semi-finals to the Phoenix Mercury.
Adding to its playoff-contending roster, the Lynx used the second overall pick to select Olivia Miles.
During her one season at Texas Christian University, Miles averaged 6.6 assists, 7.2 rebounds, 1.2 steals per game and a career-high 19.6 points. Miles began playing 30 minutes away from the Wings home arena at TCU after transferring from Notre Dame. Miles averaged 14.2 points, 6.5 assists and six rebounds per game in her three seasons playing for the Irish.
Miles was available when Dallas was on the clock since the Wings held the top pick in the draft. However, Dallas opted to select Azzi Fudd, reuniting Fudd and Paige Bueckers.
Fudd and Bueckers played together for four seasons at the University of Connecticut, winning the National Championship in the 2024-25 season.
In comparison to Miles, Fudd provided an established connection with Bueckers and a threat from beyond the arc. Last season, Dallas shot 30.4% from beyond the arc so Fudd fit the profile of an excellent 3-point shooter.
Fudd shot 44.7% from beyond the arc while averaging 17.3 points, 3.1 assists and 2.6 rebounds last season. The shooting was a slight improvement from her final season with Bueckers when Fudd shot 43.6% from beyond the arc.
Miles best season from beyond the arc came in her final season at Notre Dame, shooting 40.6% from the 3-point line. Last season, Miles shot 35.1% from the 3-point line although she shot 48.1% from the field similar to Fudd who shot 48.1% from the field.
Miles provided more scoring and assists than Fudd, but Dallas said it liked Fudd’s 3-point shooting and her defense.
Although there is an argument for the selection, the results in the first two games show a difference between Fudd and Miles.
In her regular-season debut, Fudd came off the bench and recorded the lowest scoring debut for a number one pick, scoring three points with 1-of-3 shooting against the Fever.
She was listed as out for the game against the dream due to a knee injury. Wings coach Jose Fernandez said she was held out due to an abundance of caution. It’s the same knee that she had two surgeries on earlier in her career.
Miles started and opened the season with 21 points and eight assists in the 91-90 loss to the Atlanta Dream. In her second game, Miles had 13 points, six rebounds and seven assists in the 88-84 win over the Mercury Tuesday night. Miles started in both games and is expected to start against Dallas.
The sample size is extremely small with two games to compare Fudd and Miles. However, the limited minutes for Fudd and missing the second game due to an injury causes more questions about the top pick as Dallas tries to make it back to the playoffs after two straight seasons of picking the top pick in the WNBA Draft.
After the first game, Fernandez said that there are talented guards on the Wings roster, but Fudd will be ready whenever she does play in the starting lineup. There has not been a statement about Fudd’s availability for the game against Minnesota.
The game begins at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the College Park Center in Arlington. The game will be broadcast locally on KFAA Channel 29.