Grading the Wings' 2026 Turnaround: From 10-34 to 27-17, With an A for the Stars and an Incomplete for the Defense

By Danielle "Dee" Ortiz, RF Sports Radio Wings voice

Wings fans, the WNBA Finals start Saturday without Dallas. While Golden State and Atlanta get ready, it's a good time to hand out grades for the Wings' season.

The facts

Start with how far this team came. The Wings went 27-17 in 2026 after going 10-34 in 2025 and 9-31 in 2024, per The IX Sports. They did it with a first-year coach, Jose Fernandez, who Spotrac notes was Dallas' third head coach in three seasons. The IX reports Dallas finished fourth in the league in offensive rating and led the WNBA in assists per game. The season ended in a 77-73 Game 3 loss at Golden State after Dallas led by 16 in the second half. GM Curt Miller called it an "incredibly successful" year but said, "Really excited about what we did, but not satisfied."

The individual numbers come from the Wings' release on the AP awards. Paige Bueckers made the All-AP Second Team for the second straight year. She finished fifth in the league in scoring at 20.9 points a game, eighth in assists at 5.9, and shot .410 from three. She set the WNBA record for points in a player's first two seasons (1,570) and became the first player in league history to average more than 20 points and five assists while shooting over 50% from the field. The IX notes she finished sixth in MVP voting. Jessica Shepard won AP Most Improved Player after jumping from 8.0 to 14.5 points, 7.3 to 11.1 rebounds and 2.6 to 5.3 assists, with a league-high six triple-doubles. Azzi Fudd made the All-Rookie team, averaging 13.1 points and leading all rookies with 1.73 steals in 30 games, and became the first rookie to win the 3-Point Contest.

RF Sports Radio's report card (opinion)

Here are my grades. Bueckers: A. A record-setting second year and an All-WNBA-level season. Shepard: A. Nobody in the league made a bigger jump. Fudd: B-plus, because 30 games is a short sample, but the shooting and the hands on defense are real. Coaching: B-plus. Fernandez built a top-four offense in his first pro season, and the after-timeout plays were sharp. Defense: incomplete. Miller has called it the growth area, and that 16-point second-half lead in Game 3 is exhibit A.

Overall grade: B-plus. I know, a 17-win improvement sounds like an A. But the bar moved this year. Once you're up 16 on the road in a series-deciding game, you're judged against the teams still playing, and one of those teams is the one that came back on Dallas. The Valkyries are the first expansion team to reach the Finals in their second season. That's the standard now.

What to watch next

Game 1 of the Finals between Golden State and Atlanta is Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Central on NBC and Peacock, per the Valkyries. For Dallas, CBS Sports has called keeping restricted free agent Awak Kuier the top offseason job, and the defense needs help. For more on the roster questions, read our look at building around Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, and stay with the Dallas Wings all offseason.

Radio question: what overall grade do you give the Wings' season?

Sources: The IX Sports — Wings GM Curt Miller talks 'incredibly successful' 2026 season; OurSports Central (Wings release) — Bueckers, Fudd and Shepard earn AP awards; Spotrac — Dallas Wings offseason preview; Golden State Valkyries — Valkyries advance to 2026 WNBA Finals; CBS Sports — What's next for the Wings after Bueckers' playoff debut.