On Sept. 22, Front Office Sports reported that the Dallas Wings were not expected to make a coaching change this offseason. Despite a contentious first season in charge of the Wings, Chris Koclanes seemed like he was going to get another chance, despite the wishes of many Wings fans, who believed that Koclanes was in over his head.
Then, on Tuesday, the Wings went ahead and fired Koclanes.
I believe Annie Costabile's reporting that Koclanes was safe. Two weeks ago, he was safe! But at the time, we didn't know that one major change would shake up the league: New York moving on from head coach Sandy Brondello just one season after she led the franchise to a title.
Maybe it's just a coincidence that the Wings reconsidered their stance on Koclanes right after a championship coach went on the market. Or maybe, just maybe, the Wings realize they need Sandy Brondello.
Hiring Sandy Brondello would be the best thing the Wings could do
The Wings felt like the team that got left out last offseason. It seemed like almost every team made a head coaching change and Dallas' decision to hire Koclanes felt strange from the start. It was the most baffling of any hire ahead of the 2025 season.
Now, Dallas gets to try this over again. There will still be plenty of openings that need filled this offseason, but Dallas has a leg up on some of those. Portland and Toronto are expansion teams. Seattle is at a weird crossroads where half the roster is contending veterans and half are young players who need more minutes. And New York just fired the best coach on the market.
Dallas, meanwhile, has Paige Bueckers. Whoever takes the job will have a lot of moving parts to work with, but that person will also have Paige Bueckers, which is a great building block to work with.
And you know who knows about working with exciting guards? Yeah, the coach who won titles with Diana Taurasi and Sabrina Ionescu. Whose ill-fated first head coaching position in San Antonio saw Becky Hammon average what was, at the time, the most assists of her career. The coach who played in the WNBA as a guard and who was the MVP in Australia's WNBL back in 1995.
Sure, you could argue that Brondello's coaching career hasn't prepared her for a rebuild. She's finished under .500 as a coach just three times since taking the Mercury job in 2014, and her teams have never missed the playoffs. Rebuilding the Wings might be a very difficult task for Brondello, because rebuilds aren't something she's been around for.
Still, Dallas needs to reach out. You have a shot to hire one of the league's best coaches, someone with experience coaching guards. Maybe Brondello isn't the most modern basketball mind available, but sometimes you just need a hire who can change the culture of the team and get things moving in the right direction. Do it, Greg Bibb. Hire Sandy Brondello.