After an offseason that saw the Dallas Wings put in a lot of work to build a solid roster around rookie Paige Bueckers, the regular season has gone...uhh...ehh...I mean...not great, as the team is 8-21. And now, the team's biggest non-Bueckers addition is gone.
On Sunday, the Wings traded DiJonai Carrington to the Dallas Wings for Diamond Miller, Karlie Samuelson and a second-round pick, though Samuelson is out for the season and was essentially just in the deal to make the money work.
In addition, the team waived center Teaira McCowan in a corresponding move to open a roster spot. McCowan was the starting center in 2024, but her role under new head coach Chris Koclanes never made sense, as she was moved to the bench for the season opener. Dallas has started 12 different players in 2025, yet somehow McCowan started zero times.
With all of these changes, what does the Wings depth chart look like at the moment?
Projected Dallas Wings depth chart after acquiring Diamond Miller
With the caveat here that Koclanes will almost certainly experiment with multiple different lineups over the course of the season because he seems like a coach who refuses to run a consistent lineup, here's what the 10-player rotation for Dallas should look like once everyone is healthy.
Position | Starter | Bench |
|---|---|---|
Point Guard | J.J. Quinerly | Aziaha James |
Shooting Guard | Paige Bueckers | Diamond Miller |
Small Forward | Arike Ogunbowale | Maddy Siegrist |
Power Forward | Haley Jones | Myisha Hines-Allen |
Center | Luisa Geiselsöder | Li Yueru |
Just for comparison sake, the opening night starting lineup for the Wings looked like this:
Position | Starters |
|---|---|
Point Guard | Paige Bueckers |
Shooting Guard | Arike Ogunbowale |
Small Forward | DiJonai Carrington |
Power Forward | NaLyssa Smith |
Center | Myisha Hines-Allen |
A lot has changed, but these moves on Sunday shouldn't change too much, in theory. McCowan had already seen her spot in the rotation dwindle, so the only real impact there should be additional minutes for Li Yueru now that McCowan isn't on the team.
As for the Carrington for Miller swap, that also doesn't change too much. Dallas was already bringing Carrington off the bench at the two and three, and Miller should slide right into that role. She's a much more raw player than Carrington, so fans should expect a little more unevenness from her play, but the former No. 2 overall pick has some intriguing upside that should excite Wings fans.
Really, the biggest change comes not from these moves, but from the fact that Maddy Siegrist looks to be on the verge of finally returning from her knee injury. Siegrist hasn't played since June 11 and could theoretically end up starting at either the three or four once she's fully recovered from the injury. She struggled to shoot from deep in her first 11 games of the year, but is a good scorer inside the arc and should have ample opportunities to shoot the ball.
One thing is for certain, though: the Wings will have J.J. Quinerly and Paige Bueckers in the backcourt. The two rookies have been the franchise's biggest bright spots this year, and it's become fairly clear that Bueckers is at her best when playing beside a more traditional point guard. What that means for roster construction going forward with Arike Ogunbowale remains to be seen.