When Azzi Fudd was selected No. 1 in the WNBA Draft, the UConn guard made history.
Fudd’s selection was the second time in WNBA history that the same program had produced the top pick in consecutive years, with the duo of Fudd and Paige Bueckers joining Tina Charles and Maya Moore from 2010-11, also from the Huskies.
But this was the first time that the same WNBA team made back-to-back No. 1 picks from the same school, creating an unprecedented combination of talent and continuity for the Dallas Wings. Fudd and Bueckers were teammates for four seasons at UConn — though only collectively healthy for about 1 ½ seasons — and won a national title together during Bueckers’ senior year when Fudd won the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award. There is a history of success and familiarity for the pair, who publicly announced they were dating in July 2025.
Last week, Fudd declined through a team spokesperson to discuss their personal relationship last week, but their winning on the court together is undeniable.
Now, new Wings coach Jose Fernandez will work on translating that chemistry to the pros.
“Paige is an incredible player,” Fudd said after the WNBA Draft. “She’s somebody that makes playing basketball look easy. So I think just the prior experience, knowing how to play with her, play off of her, will only help going into this.”
Bueckers is an excellent creator with the ball in her hands, whether for herself or her teammates. She ranked fifth in the WNBA in scoring as a rookie and ninth in assist percentage in 2025, toggling between the one and two fairly seamlessly as Dallas dealt with significant roster turnover during the season.
Fudd is more positionally rigid as an off-ball guard. She is an outstanding shot-maker but doesn’t always generate those looks on her own. Fudd is a willing mover of the ball, running off screens and handoffs and threatening defenses with what Dallas general manager Curt Miller called a “lightning quick release.” She senses when a defense is shifting and will dive to the basket. She just needs someone to deliver the pass.
When Fudd and Bueckers played together in college, Bueckers exhibited her versatility and functioned more as a point guard. Her usage rate ticked down six percent when she shared the court with Fudd, per CBB Analytics, and seven percent more of her possessions ended in an assist. In their 746 minutes together during the 2024-25 season, UConn outscored opponents by 49.1 points per 100 possessions.
The Huskies turned to the combination of Bueckers and Fudd in critical situations. In the 2025 Elite Eight against USC, their lead dwindled to five points to start the fourth quarter. On its first offensive possession, UConn dialed up an elevator screen set for Fudd, and Bueckers found her for the deep 3 to keep the Trojans at bay. On the next play, Bueckers pushed the tempo in early offense and created another clean 3 for Fudd on a handoff when her defender went under.
Bueckers occupied different spots on the floor for the Wings compared to when she played for the Huskies, but she still created a heavy diet of 3s; 38 percent of her assists were for triples, and that was on a team that shot 30.4 percent from long range. Fudd will be able to slot in for the likes of DiJonai Carrington and Kaila Charles (both of whom are on different teams now) to cash in on more of the opportunities Bueckers creates.
Dallas’ pick-and-roll frequency also will create more looks for Fudd. Bueckers ran pick-and-rolls on 32 percent of her possessions with the Wings compared to 21 percent at UConn. Defenses will have a harder time containing those actions with Alanna Smith as the rolling (or popping) big, allowing Fudd to spot up for kickouts or cut into open spaces.
“I know how to play with great players,” Fudd said at the draft. “I know how to space the floor. I know how to move without the ball.”
Fernandez and Miller are optimistic about Fudd’s ability to expand her on-ball creation and highlighted the rookie’s improvement between her third and fourth college seasons in that area as proof of concept. But as Dallas attempts a playoff push in 2026, Fudd doesn’t have to extend herself, at least not in live game reps. She’ll always play next to one of Bueckers or Arike Ogunbowale, and new free agent acquisition Jessica Shepard is also a good facilitator out of the frontcourt. Fudd can earn her minutes as a spacer and tap into Bueckers’ complementary skill set.
On defense, Fudd and Bueckers are a little undersized to play a full-time two and three. Neither is a lock-down isolation defender, especially if the opponent had bigger wings. Fernandez didn’t seem concerned about the defense, at least not before having a chance to actually see his backcourt (Fudd, Bueckers and Ogunbowale) together in training camp.
“The big concern is how those three are gonna play defensively, but other teams have to guard those three,” Fernandez said at Fudd’s introductory news conference.
The hope for Fudd and Bueckers is they finally get to play together consistently. Even though they were both at UConn from 2021 to 2025, they played together in only 60 games during that time. It’s clear that their games work well together, but their chemistry has been fast-tracked up until this point. Now, they have a full training camp and no end date on how long they get to be teammates at the professional level.
“It wasn’t until last year that we really got a chance to actually play together, and even then it wasn’t a full season,” Fudd said about her partnership with Bueckers. “There’s still so much left on the table. And so much unknown, just so much potential.”
Dallas Wings, Connecticut Huskies, WNBA, Women's College Basketball