Azzi Fudd goes No 1 in WNBA Draft to Wings, reunites with Paige Bueckers with historic $500K salary

Azzi Fudd is reuniting with her aged UConn Huskies teammate, Paige Bueckers, arsenic the Dallas Wings took her archetypal wide successful the 2026 WNBA Draft connected Monday night.

And Fudd comes successful with a historical payday successful the league.

After a caller corporate bargaining statement was inked betwixt the league and the players’ relation past month, Fudd is acceptable to marque $500,000 successful her rookie twelvemonth – a monolithic wage bump compared to the $78,831 Bueckers earned past play arsenic the WNBA Draft’s archetypal wide selection.

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Azzi Fudd poses with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert aft being selected archetypal wide by the Dallas Wings during the 2026 WNBA Draft astatine The Shed successful New York City connected April 13, 2026. (Angelina Katsanis/Getty Images)

This comes arsenic the wage headdress for WNBA teams besides jumped from $1.5 cardinal successful 2025 to $7 million, which besides brought successful the first-ever million-dollar contracts. From league veterans to newcomers successful the Draft, the game’s champion are getting paid.

While Fudd volition beryllium surely blessed to spot her paychecks, she’s besides excited to marque her interaction with the Wings and wrong the WNBA.

PAIGE BUECKERS MAKES WNBA HISTORY IN OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION, SPARKS VET GETS LAST LAUGH

"I'm not truly definite I person words to picture that feeling what that meant," Fudd said aft being drafted, via ESPN. "I don't deliberation it's afloat sunk in. It's thing I could person imagined. The feeling of sitting with my family, with Morgan (Valley), proceeding your sanction called, spell up there. Such a surreal feeling."

Fudd was besides excited portion discussing her reunion with Bueckers.

"Paige is an unthinkable player, everyone knows that," she explained. "She’s idiosyncratic that makes playing hoops with easy."

Olivia Miles poses with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert aft being selected 2nd wide by the Minnesota Lynx during the 2026 WNBA Draft astatine The Shed successful New York City connected April 13, 2026. (Angelina Katsanis/Getty Images)

With Fudd taken, the Minnesota Lynx locked successful Olivia Miles retired of TCU – Fudd’s biggest contention for that archetypal wide pick. But Miles isn’t missing retired connected the payday, arsenic she’s slated to marque $466,913 arsenic the 2nd wide pick.

Center Awa Fam Thiam from Spain went to the Seattle Storm and volition get a $436,016 wage for the 2026 WNBA season. Then, nationalist champions Lauren Betts (Washington Mystics), Gabriel Jacquez (Chicago Sky) and Kiki Rice (Toronto Tempo) rounded retired the apical six.

UCLA besides broke UConn’s grounds of having 4 players drafted successful the archetypal round, which was acceptable successful 2002 by the Huskies. Angela Dugalić rounded retired the clump aft Washington took her ninth overall, keeping her with Betts arsenic they participate the league.

Another notable sanction was LSU defender Flau’Jae Johnson, who was taken eighth wide by the Golden State Valkyries, but she was traded to the Storm for the rights to Marta Suarez from TCU. The Storm had taken her with the archetypal prime of the 2nd round. The Valkyries besides received a 2028 second-round prime successful the deal.

Lauren Betts poses with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert aft being selected with the 4th prime successful the archetypal circular by the Washington Mystics during the 2026 WNBA Draft astatine The Shed successful New York City connected April 13, 2026. (Angelina Katsanis/Getty Images)

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Overall, each drafted subordinate who makes a squad entering the regular play volition marque much than immoderate WNBA subordinate did during the 2025 season, with a minimum wage of $270,000 that sits higher than past year’s maximum wage of $249,244.

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