The Dallas Wings‘ 2025 season, once full of promise after landing top draft pick Paige Bueckers, has instead become a showcase of perseverance through injury.
The team has suffered one of the worst injury tolls in recent WNBA memory, projected to lose around 120 player-games by season’s end. Nine of the twelve players who suited up on opening night have missed at least seven games. Even Bueckers, the franchise’s centerpiece, hasn’t managed to play every game.
The latest setback came on August 20 in a narrow 81-80 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks, where rookie guard JJ Quinerly suffered an ACL sprain in her left knee. She has been ruled out for the remainder of the season.
Quinerly, a third-round pick (27th overall), had quickly become a fan favorite and a backcourt complement to Bueckers, offering rim pressure and energy that amplified the rookie star’s offensive efficiency.
Though her stats – 6.5 points, 2.3 assists, and 1.9 rebounds per game – don’t leap off the page, her impact was far deeper. When on the floor together, Quinerly and Bueckers helped Dallas post a +2.2 Net Rating and a 111.6 Offensive Rating, outpacing even the Minnesota Lynx’s league-best offensive metrics during that stretch.
More ball-handling duties fall to Bueckers
With Quinerly out and Dallas’s point guard rotation decimated, Arike Ogunbowale and Tyasha Harris are also sidelined, coach Chris Koclanes has little choice but to lean further on Paige Bueckers. “This puts Paige on the ball more right away,” he confirmed after the injury update. That shift, while necessary, comes with risk.
The pressure has already begun to show. In that heartbreaking Sparks game, Bueckers was phenomenal: 44 points on 17-of-21 shooting, 4-for-4 from three, and perfect at the free-throw line. But following that playoff-eliminating loss, her rhythm seemed to falter.
In games against the Seattle Storm and Golden State Valkyries, her scoring output dipped significantly, just 11 points against Seattle (on 2-of-7 shooting) and nine points versus Golden State, despite playing 34 minutes and logging nine assists.
This slump hints at the challenge of taking on a primary facilitating role. While Bueckers remains an elite talent, forcing her to carry both the scoring and playmaking loads may blunt her natural strengths. Grace Berger is now the only remaining healthy guard able to share some of the responsibilities.
For Dallas, the final stretch of the season isn’t about chasing wins, it’s about learning. Can Bueckers handle the dual-role burden without sacrificing her scoring edge? Or is it time for the coaching staff to rethink the system entirely.
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