Last season, the Wings finished 9-31. During the offseason, Sabally announced that she had already played her last game with Dallas. This led to a trade that sent her to Phoenix. Since then, the Mercury have played at a high level. The Wings drafted Bueckers months after trading Sabally, and they are trying to find their identity.

Dallas led nearly wire-to-wire over the league’s second best team — a 12-5 Phoenix Mercury squad led by All-Star Satou Sabally, former MVP Alyssa Thomas, and 2024 All-WNBA selection Kahleah Copper — in a dominant 98-89 victory at College Park Center.