Paige Bueckers' Wings Contract Details After Going No. 1 in 2025 WNBA Draft

With the Dallas Wings making it official and taking her first overall in the 2025 WNBA draft, UConn star Paige Bueckers became one of the biggest bargains in the league.

Here's what she'll be earning from her first contract:

Paige Bueckers Rookie Contract

2025: $78,831; 2026: $80,408; 2027: $88,449; 2028: $100,510 (team option)

Salary info via Her Hoop Stats

Bueckers had one more year of college eligibility remaining, so some wondered whether she'd wait and make the jump to the WNBA at a time when the league will have a radically different financial climate.

The players intend to opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement, which means a new CBA should be in place for the 2026 season. Nobody knows the specifics, but the new CBA will at least reflect the significant increase the WNBA secured on its next media rights deal.

Rookies in the 2026 class will be earning far more out of the gate than their 2025 peers. That fact wasn't enough to dissuade Bueckers from leaving UConn this spring.

Fans in North Texas rejoiced because of that.

Consistency from year to year has proven elusive for the Wings ever since the organization first relocated from Detroit to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2010. Head coach Latricia Trammell getting fired a year after taking the team to the WNBA semifinals in 2023 summed up the state of the franchise.

Hiring Curt Miller as general manager was a step in the right direction. As both head coach and GM, Miller turned the Connecticut Sun into a perennial playoff contender and a two-time Finals runner-up.

And while Dallas lost two-time All-Star Satou Sabally, adding DiJonai Carrington and NaLyssa Smith gives the roster a solid base. Finishing in the middle of the pack will be an improvement over losing 31 games.

Like a lot of other teams, the Wings are basically in a holding pattern until the free-agency bonanza of 2026. A lot of veterans have lined their contracts up with the current CBA, so almost every star you can think of will hit the open market next offseason.

In Bueckers, Dallas will hope she's a cornerstone piece who can help attract proven talent, and having her on a rookie contract makes it easier to assemble a stacked squad.