Dallas Wings Make Unfortunate Last-Minute Decision on Paige Bueckers

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Paolo Songco | Last updated Aug 27, 2025 8:51 PM ET

The Dallas Wings are back in action on Wednesday night in a home game against the Connecticut Sun.

While both teams are already out of contention for the WNBA Playoffs this season, this matchup still has significant implications on the rankings as the 9-29 Wings and the Sun 9-28 battle to avoid a last-place finish in the league.

Wings Make Sudden Paige Bueckers U-Turn

Things took a significant turn for the Wings just before tip-off. This is after the team decided to pull star rookie Paige Bueckers out of the game due to illness.

The announcement was made by the Wings’ PR account on X.

“Paige Bueckers has been a late scratch from tonight's game vs. Connecticut Sun due to an illness,” read the update.

This comes as a surprise because Dallas had already given Bueckers the green light to play a couple of hours earlier. The 23-year-old was initially listed as questionable to play after missing practice on Tuesday, but she was upgraded to available after participating in the morning shootaround in full.

It is unclear what exactly led to the Wings’ decision to make a sudden U-turn on Bueckers’ playing status, but it would probably be safe to assume that she was ultimately deemed unfit to take the court because of her illness, despite her seeming desire to do so.

Wings Are Extremely Shorthanded

It’s not just Bueckers who will be out of action for Dallas in this one. Four-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale, the team’s second-highest scorer behind Bueckers, is also sidelined due to a right knee problem.

Ty Harris, JJ Quinerly and Li Yueru are all also nursing respective injuries and are out for Wednesday’s clash.

Be that as it may, there’s no denying that it’s Bueckers who represents the most significant loss for Dallas, especially considering the nature of her sudden absence. Head coach Chris Koclanes will need to turn to the rest of his roster and take a committee approach to try and fill the void that Bueckers has left.

In 31 games played this season, Bueckers has produced averages of 19.0 points on 46.6% shooting, 3.9 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.6 steals in 33.7 minutes per contest. The former UConn star is also knocking down 1.2 triples per game on a 33.9% clip.

Her strong play led to an All-Star selection in her debut campaign and has placed her in pole position to bag the Rookie of the Year title.