The WNBA’s last four No. 1 overall picks will be on the court together Saturday afternoon when the Indiana Fever face the Dallas Wings in a highly anticipated season opener in Indianapolis.
The Fever built their foundation with consecutive top draft picks of Aliyah Boston in 2023 and Caitlin Clark in 2024. The Wings then landed back-to-back No. 1 picks through the lottery and brought in UConn stars Paige Bueckers last season and Azzi Fudd last month.
Both teams have designs on taking steps forward in 2026. For the Wings, that’s returning to the playoffs after a two-year absence, while the Fever are one of a handful of title contenders after reaching the semifinals of the playoffs last season without a healthy Clark.
The Fever’s franchise player went down with a groin injury in July that wound up sidelining her the rest of the season. While that is behind her, Clark landed on her kneecap during a preseason game against Dallas on April 30.
She wore a leg sleeve in practice this week but tried to downplay the injury, saying, “Just a little compression on the leg, I don’t know.”
Bueckers and Clark faced off in college but only met once last season before Clark’s season ended prematurely. Clark had 14 points and 13 assists in a 102-83 win; Bueckers went for a game-high 21 points.
“Me and Caitlin have been competing against each other for a long time,” Bueckers said. “I think the greatest way to show respect is to compete and really bring the best out of each other, and I feel we do that when we’re competing against each other.”
The Wings tied for last in the overall WNBA standings in 2025 and replaced coach Chris Koclanes with Jose Fernandez, who spent 25 years building a mid-major college power at South Florida.
He will coach a group featuring not only Bueckers and Fudd, but also Wings mainstay Arike Ogunbowale, forward Maddy Siegrist and new frontcourt addition Alanna Smith. Siegrist went for 18 points and 11 rebounds when the Wings beat the Fever 95-80 in the preseason.
“Maddy had two really, really good preseason games,” Fernandez said. “My toughest job is making sure we’ve got the right five on the floor at times. We’re very, very deep, everybody being a star in their role and making sure we just take efficient, great shots and we share it.”
Boston noted how Dallas revamped its roster.
“I think Dallas did a great job surrounding Paige (Bueckers) with more shooters on the floor and I think even down to the post you have Alanna Smith that just stretches the floor completely,” Boston said.
“I think for us it’s just making sure we keep our energy high, we know it’s going to be a game of runs, we know they want to put a lot of points up, but making sure we play both ends of the floor.”
–Field Level Media
