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ESPN Reports Paige Bueckers Preferred Sparks Over Wings as WNBA Destination

A report from ESPN revealed that UConn star Paige Bueckers might not be happy about the 2025 WNBA Draft Lottery results.

Grant Young

Apr 5, 2024; Cleveland, OH, USA; Connecticut Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) reacts against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the semifinals of the Final Four of the womens 2024 NCAA Tournament at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Apr 5, 2024; Cleveland, OH, USA; Connecticut Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) reacts against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the semifinals of the Final Four of the womens 2024 NCAA Tournament at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The 2025 WNBA Draft Lottery has now come and gone, and the Dallas Wings emerged from it with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft.

There's no doubt that Dallas is absolutely ecstatic about securing the top pick for next year's draft, as it most likely means they'll select UConn Huskies star guard Paige Bueckers so long as she doesn't decide to return to UConn for one more season (of which she has eligibility for).

The Los Angeles Sparks were the other team that was most likely to secure the No. 1 pick and therefore win the Bueckers sweepstakes. And given that Los Angeles is a big market team that already boasts two compelling young players (Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson), many fans were hoping that Bueckers would end up there instead of with the Wings.

And a November 18 report from ESPN's Michael Voepel conveyed this sentiment was also shared by Bueckers.

"Sources around the league have indicated that the Los Angeles Sparks, who got the No. 2 pick in the lottery, would have been Bueckers' preferred option," Voepel wrote.

"Like the Wings, the Sparks also currently don't have a head coach. But Los Angeles is a gigantic market and a team that could also have used a guard like Bueckers."

Bueckers spent some time in Los Angeles over the summer, attending a Kansas City Chiefs vs. Los Angeles Chargers NFL game there and then posting a series of Instagram photos from the outing with the caption, "Better days🤍" (which is what her shirt read).

While better days might be ahead for Bueckers, they won't be occurring in Los Angeles.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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