Paige Bueckers is No. 1 pick in WNBA draft, going to the Dallas Wings

Doug Feinberg, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Paige Bueckers is headed to Dallas as the first pick Monday night in the WNBA draft.

The versatile UConn star is the latest Huskies standout to go No. 1, joining former greats Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart.

“Dallas I’m so excited, a new city, a new start,” Bueckers said. “A fresh start, so let’s get it.”

Bueckers has had a whirlwind week since helping UConn win its 12th national championship on April 6. She has split her time between New York and Connecticut doing morning and nighttime talk shows. On Sunday, she took part in the Huskies’ championship parade.

Her UConn teammates, who have meant so much to her, and coach Geno Auriemma were in attendance at the draft, which was held at The Shed in New York with hundreds of fans in attendance. Bueckers choked up when talking about her former Huskies teammates.

“They mean everything to me. They helped me get through highs and lows,” Bueckers said.

Seattle quickly followed Dallas’ selection by taking 19-year-old French star Dominique Malonga with the No. 2 pick. The 6-foot-6 Malonga was part of the silver medal winning French Olympic basketball team. She’s the first French player to be drafted this high since 1997, when Isabelle Fijalkowski went second.

“I was so proud to achieve that goal,” Malonga said. “It showed that French basketball has evolved as we’ve seen the past few years on the NBA side. We see Wemby (Victor Wembanyama) and Zaccharie (Risacher) show that French basketball is great.”

The Washington Mystics, with a new coach and general manager, then took Notre Dame’s Sonia Citron with the third pick, and Southern Cal’s Kiki Iriafen with No. 4. They also took Kentucky guard Georgia Amoore with the sixth pick. Amoore was dressed on the WNBA’s orange carpet by NBA star Russell Westbrook, who has a clothing brand called Honor The Gift. Amoore said Westbrook designed her outfit and was amazing to work with since they first got together on a Zoom session last November.

The expansion Golden State Valkyries made Juste Jocyte of Lithuania with the first draft choice in franchise history.

Connecticut had consecutive picks and took LSU’s Aneesah Morrow seventh and N.C. State’s Saniya Rivers eighth.

Los Angeles took Alabama’s Sarah Ashlee Barker ninth. Chicago drafted Ajsa Sivka from Slovenia 10th, and then TCU’s Hailey Van Lith next.

Dallas closed out the first round drafting Aziah James of N.C. State.

Six teams didn’t have picks in the opening round as New York, Indiana, Minnesota, Phoenix and Atlanta traded away their picks. Las Vegas forfeited its pick following an investigation by the league in 2023 that found the franchise violated league rules regarding impermissible player benefits and workplace policies.