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TAMPA, Fla. — Every passing day adds to the anticipation of UConn star Paige Bueckers’s WNBA debut.
It is no longer a matter of if Bueckers will enter the WNBA draft this year after she made her plans to declare official. The big question now is: Where will she end up?
Ever since the Dallas Wings won the draft lottery in the fall, reports have circulated that Bueckers will either forgo the draft entirely or pull an Eli Manning and force her way elsewhere. So does Bueckers say? On Thursday, Front Office Sports asked her directly. Bueckers was speaking with reporters in Tampa the day before her national semifinal against UCLA and just 11 days before the draft.
“I don’t know,” Bueckers responded when asked what she makes of reports that have speculated she may not wind up playing for the Wings. “The reports are the reports. People write stories, and it’s whatever. Honestly, I’m not really worried about that at the moment. I’m just worried about being here, being present with the team, and trying to get better every single day. So whatever the future may hold, it’s only in God’s hands.”
But is there somewhere specific Bueckers wants to be, as has been indicated by reports?
“Nowhere specific,” Bueckers said. “Wherever I end up.”
By all accounts this is true. The Wings and Bueckers team have not been in communication regarding the draft and her future, according to one league source.
Several league sources who have spoken with FOS this season have downplayed the possibility of Bueckers refusing to play for Dallas.
WNBA history does not offer up examples of players refusing to play for the franchise they’re drafted by. But the 2008 draft, and what might have been, has long been discussed in league circles.
The Sparks drafted Candace Parker with the No. 1 overall pick, but many have said, including Parker herself, that if she wanted to end up in Chicago—the Sky had the No. 2 overall pick—she could have. Parker signed with the Sky as a free agent in 2021 and led the franchise to its first WNBA title that same year.
Bueckers’s future will be further solidified whenever her UConn season comes to an end, whether that be Friday with a loss to UCLA or following the title game Sunday. As far as her commitment to the Wings goes or even her thoughts on the franchise, she’s remained quiet.
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