NEWNow you can listen to Pak Gazette articles!
Azzi Fudd will be reunited with her former UConn Huskies teammate Paige Bueckers as the Dallas Wings take their first overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft on Monday night.
And Fudd arrives with a historic payday in the league.
After a new collective bargaining agreement was signed between the league and the players’ association last month, Fudd will earn $500,000 in her rookie year, a huge pay bump compared to the $78,831 the Bueckers earned last season as the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PakGazette.Com
Azzi Fudd poses with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected first overall by the Dallas Wings during the 2026 WNBA Draft at The Shed in New York City on April 13, 2026. (Angelina Katsanis/Getty Images)
This comes as the salary cap for WNBA teams also jumped from $1.5 million in 2025 to $7 million, also resulting in the first million-dollar contracts. From league veterans to draft newcomers, the game’s best are getting paid.
While Fudd will certainly be happy to see her paychecks, she is also excited to make an impact with the Wings and within the WNBA.
PAIGE BUECKERS MAKES WNBA HISTORY IN OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION, SPARKS VET HAS THE LAST LAUGH
“I’m not really sure I have words to describe that feeling and what that meant,” Fudd said after being selected, via ESPN. “I don’t think it’s fully sunk in. It’s nothing I could have imagined. The feeling of sitting with my family, with Morgan (Valley), hearing your name, going up there. It’s such a surreal feeling.”
Fudd was also emotional as she talked about her meeting with Bueckers.
“Paige is an incredible player, everyone knows that,” he explained. “She’s someone who makes playing basketball easy.”
Olivia Miles poses with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected second overall by the Minnesota Lynx during the 2026 WNBA Draft at The Shed in New York City on April 13, 2026. (Angelina Katsanis/Getty Images)
With Fudd selected, the Minnesota Lynx secured Olivia Miles out of TCU, Fudd’s biggest competition for that first overall pick. But Miles isn’t missing out on a payday, as he’s scheduled to make $466,913 as the second overall pick.
Center Awa Fam Thiam of Spain left for the Seattle Storm and will receive a salary of $436,016 for the 2026 WNBA season. Then national champions Lauren Betts (Washington Mystics), Gabriel Jacquez (Chicago Sky) and Kiki Rice (Toronto Tempo) rounded out the top six.
UCLA also broke UConn’s record of having four players selected in the first round, set in 2002 by the Huskies. Angela Dugalić rounded out the group after Washington earned its ninth overall finish, keeping her with Betts as they enter the league.
Another notable name was LSU guard Flau’Jae Johnson, who was picked eighth overall by the Golden State Valkyries, but was traded to the Storm for the rights to TCU’s Marta Suarez. The Storm had taken it with the first pick of the second round. The Valkyries also received a 2028 second-round pick in the deal.
Lauren Betts poses with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected with the fourth pick in the first round by the Washington Mystics during the 2026 WNBA Draft at The Shed in New York City on April 13, 2026. (Angelina Katsanis/Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE Pak Gazette APP
Overall, each drafted player on a team entering the regular season will earn more than any WNBA player during the 2025 season, with a minimum salary of $270,000 that is higher than last year’s maximum salary of $249,244.
