On Monday, the Dallas Wings and Las Vegas Aces made a shocking trade, as Dallas sent forward NaLyssa Smith to the Aces in exchange for a 2027 first-round pick.
It was, to be frank, a baffling deal. I'm higher on Smith than a lot of people are, and I think in a normal year, Vegas giving up a late first-rounder for her might be a fine use of assets. I'd probably rather have Smith than have the 11th pick in the WNBA Draft, for example.
But there's one problem: the 2027 WNBA Draft isn't a normal one. Vegas might have just given the Wings a huge leg up in the rebuilding process.
Dallas getting a 2027 first round pick is a huge win for Paige Bueckers and company
The WNBA CBA expires this upcoming offseason. Players have been planning around that for a while now, which is why virtually every non-rookie contract right now expires after this season. To put it simply, basically every veteran player is about to be a free agent.
2026 draft picks will be based on this season's performance (and on last season's, as the league uses two-year records to determine lottery odds amongst the teams that miss the playoffs). But 2027? That's based on a season where the entire landscape of the league could look different.
An Aces team built around A'ja Wilson, Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray and Jewell Loyd isn't going to land in the lottery. But none of those players are under contract in 2026. You can sit there and say "well, there's no way A'ja leaves Vegas" until you're out of breath, but until we actually see her and the rest of this core re-sign with the team, we can't be sure.
And that's why Dallas trading for a 2027 first-rounder is huge. The WNBA doesn't offer pick protections, so if that lands in the lottery, then the Wings have a chance at a blue chip prospect, and all it cost them was a player who was likely a one-year rental anyway. (It also probably costs them some locker room chemistry, but that's a short-term issue since the entire Wings roster could look very different next season anyway.)
That 2027 WNBA Draft class is potentially loaded. JuJu Watkins and Hannah Hidalgo are the big names who could pair with Bueckers if this pick — or the Wings' own pick — lands at the top of the lottery, but there are plenty of other game-changing players as well. Milaysia Fulwiley and Madison Booker could both be stars, and if things fall apart for Vegas, the Wings would be in a position to land one of them.
Add to that the Wings are heading for top lottery odds again this year, and you could have the makings of a great young core. Imagine if Dallas heads into 2027 with Bueckers, Watkins, Booker and then Lauren Betts from the 2026 class. That's an amazing young core, and even if that's only a best-case scenario where both of the Wings' 2027 picks wind up in the lottery, the team can still build a very good roster even if they don't get that lucky. Dallas has historically struggled with lottery picks, but that was when Greg Bibb was the primary decision-maker for the franchise. Now, Curt Miller is making those moves, and that should bring about some positive moves with these upcoming draft picks.