The rookie third-rounder has taken advantage of her opportunity
It’s been another trying season for the Dallas Wings. After a whirlwind of preseason optimism surrounding the team and rookie phenom Paige Bueckers, the Wings got off to a horrendous start, losing 11 out of their first 12 games. It looked as though things might be turning a corner after that, as Dallas went 5-2 over their next seven. Perhaps it just took some time for this new group to gel!
But the last three contests have all been blowout losses. The Wings haven’t looked good on either side of the ball in any of those games, and right now the beleaguered and injury-riddled squad is crawling toward the All-Star break. Fans have grown increasingly restless, expressing frustration with every aspect of the organization.
Losing stinks. Everyone from fans to ownership wants to see this team play better basketball. That said, this was never going to be a season where the Wings contended for anything meaningful. This is a year for evaluation, a look at who on this roster can be part of the future alongside Bueckers. And so far, the rookies have been the most compelling candidates.
The three non-Bueckers rooks have all shone in their opportunities. Aziaha James has flashed incredible scoring and playmaking ability; Luisa Geiselsöder might be a rare two-way stretch five in this league; and JJ Quinerly has played remarkably since being inserted into the starting lineup five games ago.
When Quinerly was still on the board in the third round of the 2025 WNBA draft, I couldn’t believe it. The dynamic guard had an illustrious college career at West Virginia, winning two Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Awards and making three All-Conference teams. She averaged 20.4 points and a whopping 3.0 steals per game during her senior season. Quinerly possesses lightning-quick speed and elite downhill driving ability. Pair that with excellent mid-range creation, solid three-point shooting, good feel for the game, tenacious defense, and a high motor, and it’s a wonder Quinerly wasn’t considered a first-round prospect.
Well, while the diminutive Quinerly is generously listed at 5’8”, I’d be shocked if she’s 5’5”. She is TINY by WNBA standards, which tanked her draft stock. I also had concerns about Quinerly’s size but still had her ranked 16 on my draft board. Dallas getting her at pick 27 was an absolute heist, and that was clear at the time. Size notwithstanding, Quinerly has consistently demonstrated the skills necessary to make an impact at the professional level.
It is incredibly difficult for third-round picks to succeed in the WNBA. More often than not, these players are training camp bodies with little chance of making an opening-night roster. If a third rounder does break through and make a team, they aren’t likely to sniff the rotation and usually spend their rookie season one step away from the waiver wire. A third rounder earning a spot in the starting lineup as a rookie is virtually unheard of.
But that’s exactly what JJ Quinerly has done over the last five games. And not only has she started— she’s excelled. Here are Quinerly’s numbers since entering the lineup:
15.8 points
5.0 assists (2.6 turnovers)
1.2 steals
48.3% FG
42.1% 3P (19 attempts)
92.9% FT (14 attempts)
Dallas is 2-3 in these five games. The last three haven’t gone the Wings’ way, but Quinerly has been rock solid throughout this stretch. Seeing her take advantage of this opportunity and produce has been one of the most exciting storylines of this season.
Despite Quinerly’s excellent play, there has been concern and frustration expressed throughout the fanbase that Quinerly (who is operating as the de facto point guard in the starting lineup) is taking the ball out of Paige Bueckers’ hands too much. The argument is that the offense needs to run through Bueckers and having her play off-ball to accommodate Quinerly is bad for both the team and Bueckers’ own development.
And I understand that sentiment, to a certain extent. I have been calling for more primary creation duties for Bueckers all season. It made no sense to have someone like DiJonai Carrington orchestrating the offense and running a higher usage than Bueckers. I still want to see Paige operate more on the ball than off. But injuries and roster construction make it very difficult to resist having Bueckers, an ultra-malleable guard/wing hybrid, fill the gaps. The roster has no wings. They have very little off-ball shooting. And Bueckers can play anywhere on the perimeter and do it well.
That said, the Quinerly/Bueckers combo has been a net positive, especially on the offensive side of the ball. On the season, lineups featuring the two have a +2.2 Net Rating and a 111.6 Offensive Rating. For context, the Minnesota Lynx lead the WNBA with a 107.5 Offensive Rating. Quinerly is one of the only Wings players who can get downhill and generate rim pressure— she’s explosive and routinely collapses the defense. When she gets to the hoop, she finishes at an above-average rate (68.8%). All of this opens things up for everyone, especially Bueckers; Quinerly has already assisted her eight times in just 115 minutes. That may not sound like a lot, but only Arike Ogunbowale and Myisha Hines-Allen have more assists to Bueckers, and they’ve done that in over three times the minutes.
And the assertion that Quinerly is relegating Bueckers to an exclusive off-ball role is completely overblown. For the season, Bueckers is running a 22.8% usage rate. Among all WNBA guards who average 20 minutes per game (min 15 games played), that ranks ninth. In the last four games that Bueckers and Quinerly have started together, Bueckers is at a 24.7% usage rate, a higher mark than her season average. Quinerly is at 23.1% during this same time. So, they’ve effectively been splitting creation duties. And given the context of the roster, that’s fine! The offense has been good with them together.
There is a wider narrative going around that the Wings don’t want to play Bueckers at point guard, and they now prefer Quinerly in that role. Again, this is not true. Per Synergy Sports, Bueckers is running 12.6 pick-and-rolls per game: that’s sixth in the league behind Caitlin Clark, Skylar Diggins, Courtney Williams, Kelsey Plum, and Marina Mabrey. All of these players are primary ball handlers for their teams. Using the same 20 MPG, 15-game threshold, Bueckers’ 27.9% assist rate is seventh in the WNBA. Use any metric you want, and you’ll find that Bueckers has been operating as a “point guard” plenty in 2025. And that’s continued alongside Quinerly.
To win in the modern WNBA, you need multiple ball handlers who can break down the defense and create advantages for themselves and their teammates. You can’t just have one primary creator doing everything every time down, no matter who they are. WNBA defenses are too good. Not to mention, the Wings don’t have the personnel to take advantage of Bueckers’ playmaking skills consistently. They don’t have any good roll bigs, they don’t have real shooting threats, and their offense doesn’t generate corner threes. Too often, Bueckers is blitzed in the pick-and-roll, and plays go nowhere after that. Bueckers’ pick-and-rolls are only generating 0.88 points per possession (per Synergy), a poor mark for such an incredible creator. Can you blame the coaching staff for trying other things?
All of this is to say that Wings need a player like JJ Quinerly alongside Bueckers. I’m not arguing that Quinerly is the surefire backcourt partner of the future; defense is a concern, as Quinerly (though scrappy as hell) is just too small. But you can see the vision here. To maximize Bueckers, you need to pair her with someone who can pressure the rim, playmake, and process the game at a high level. In these last five games, JJ Quinerly has flashed the ability to do this. Against all the odds in the world, Quinerly is emphatically proving that she belongs in this league. Everyone should be happy about that.