The Dallas Wings received a stark preview of their looming roster dilemma this week. A new mock WNBA Expansion Draft from The Athletic projected Dallas losing center Li Yueru with the first pick to the Toronto Tempo and longtime star Arike Ogunbowale to the Portland Fire in Round 7 — a scenario that underscores just how vulnerable the Wings may be when two new franchises officially join the league in 2026.
The timing of the mock draft aligned with general manager Curt Miller’s own warning about the challenges ahead. Speaking at the post-lottery press conference, Miller acknowledged that Dallas will inevitably be forced to part with talent it hoped to keep.
“We’re going to lose players that you don’t necessarily want to lose in an expansion draft,” Miller said.
With two expansion teams and limited protections for existing franchises, the Wings’ depth — long considered a competitive advantage — could quickly turn into a liability.
A No. 1 Pick Target: Why Toronto Selects Li Yueru
In The Athletic’s simulation, Dallas protected Paige Bueckers, Luisa Geiselsöder, Aziaha James, Diamond Miller and Maddy Siegrist, leaving a strong group of young contributors exposed. Toronto wasted no time in seizing one of them.
Center Li Yueru, fresh off a career season, became the first overall selection of the mock draft. Yueru averaged 6.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, and shot 36.4% from three, but her value extends far beyond counting stats. At 6-foot-7, she was one of the only stretch-five options available, shooting 46.5% on spot-up attempts and holding opponents below 50% on post-ups. Only Bueckers produced a higher on/off net rating among Wings players with at least 300 minutes.
Her combination of size, efficiency and age (26) made her precisely the type of long-term investment expansion teams crave.
Losing Yueru would immediately thin Dallas’ frontcourt and remove one of the franchise’s most unique developmental pieces — the exact scenario Miller previewed when he acknowledged the Wings’ exposure.
Sleepless Nights Ahead as Dallas Prepares for Limited Protections
Miller said Dallas has already begun mapping out its protection strategy, though the unresolved CBA leaves teams guessing about the final rules.
“League-wide, we have a difficult decision on protections. I’m not the only GM that’s going to have sleepless nights,” Miller said.
He also emphasized that several major milestones precede the expansion draft — a free-agency period unlike any the league has seen before, the collegiate draft, and a rapidly shifting CBA landscape.
“There’s a lot of unknowns, and we have a couple other big, big moments before [the draft],” Miller said. “We have an expansion draft… and then you’ve got unprecedented free agency before you even get to the collegiate draft in April.”
Dallas expects to enter the offseason with up to 11 players under contract or reserved, a structure Miller previously described to DallasHoopsJournal.com as intentional long-term planning. But expansion flips that stability into a numbers problem: the more players under control, the more Dallas risks losing one of them.
Round 7 Shock: Portland Takes Arike Ogunbowale
When protections reset in Round 7 of the mock draft, the Fire struck aggressively. Portland selected Arike Ogunbowale, a four-time All-Star and former scoring champion who has been synonymous with the Wings franchise for nearly a decade.
Ogunbowale would be an unrestricted free agent, but Portland would apply the core designation to secure her rights — a rare opportunity to add top-tier talent from a team with one of the league’s deepest young cores.
For Dallas, the loss would be profound.
The Wings have begun steering the offense toward Bueckers, Siegrist and Miller, but Ogunbowale remains a high-usage guard capable of bending defenses. Her departure would accelerate the team’s shift to a new identity while removing a proven late-game shot-maker from a roster still defining its leadership structure.
The mock draft also noted that Dallas alternatives such as Haley Jones and JJ Quinerly were under consideration, but Portland ultimately prioritized star power.
A Young Core Meets Expansion Reality
In multiple interviews, Miller has emphasized that Dallas built its roster for sustained, long-term growth. Rookie-scale contracts, developmental minutes, cap flexibility, and a focus on culture were all pillars of the plan.
Last season, the Wings became the first team in 25 years to start four rookies for an extended stretch. Miller has stated repeatedly that continuity is essential to maximizing that group — and expansion threatens that continuity more than it does for veteran-heavy teams.
“That’s why this is so complicated,” Miller said. “There’s an excitement about expansion, but it absolutely impacts the build.”
Dallas’ new practice facility, Bueckers’ influence as a recruitment anchor, and the No. 1 pick in April all point toward a franchise on the rise. But losing even one ascending player — let alone two — would reshape the timeline.
The Road Ahead
The Wings understand the unavoidable truth: they cannot protect everyone. And the deeper their roster becomes, the more painful the decisions ahead.
Expansion is coming, and Dallas may very well lose a player it believed was central to its future. Whether the real draft mirrors this mock exercise remains to be seen, but Miller has already framed the stakes.
The next phase of the Wings’ rebuild will be defined not only by who they add — but by who they are unable to keep.
More Dallas Wings News & Rumors
