Sunday afternoon offers up the third showdown between the Minnesota Lynx and Dallas Wings (2 p.m. ET, CBS).
It’s also the third tilt between the No. 1 and No. 2 picks in the 2026 WNBA Draft: the Wings’ Azzi Fudd and the Lynx’s Olivia Miles.
As the Lynx are the best team in the league while the Wings already have matched their win total from last season as the current No. 6 seed, there’s a lot more to both teams than the two rookies.
On the Lynx side, the team is thriving without Napheesa Collier, Courtney
Williams is putting together a career-best season, Nia Coffey has emerged as a defensive beast, Natasha Howard has turned back the clock and Cheryl Reeve, a newly-minted entrant into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, continues to prove that she’s the best coach in the league—and maybe ever.
For the Wings, former Lynx Jessica Shepard has blossomed into an All-Star, Arike Ogunbowale is finding her role as a secondary scorer, Awak Kuier is back in the W and flashing all her imagined upside, Paige Bueckers is Paige Bueckers and head coach Jose Fernandez is establishing a winning identity, albeit while doing it his way.
And yet, Azzi vs. Olivia comparisons are inescapable.
That’s what happens when two players are the top two picks in a respective draft, and even more so when both are really good. That Miles was in 10th place in the second and final All-Star voting returns with Fudd just trailing her at 11th, only confirms the inextricable link between the two young stars.
Miles, at least thus far, has grabbed more headlines, instantly emerging as the new engine of the Lynx offense. Through the first 18 games of her WNBA career, she is scoring just under 19 points per game, while dishing 5.6 assists and grabbing 4.9 rebounds. So far, her biggest night came in LA, as she lit up the Los Angeles Sparks for 31 points on 80 percent shooting.
And those stats are not empty. Far from.
Various advanced statistics rate Miles as one of the most impactful players in the WNBA. ESPN Analytics, possibly a bit too ambitiously, even has her as the most valuable player in the league. Regardless, Miles’ styles comes with plenty of substance.
Substance was the selling point for Fudd, and the No. 1 pick has been as advertised.
After a short, if highly-scrutinized, transition to the WNBA, Fudd rather quickly assumed a starting role for the Wings that she’s unlikely to ever relinquish. She is 3-and-D perfection, a player who doesn’t simply fit into any lineup construction, but improves it. She is all additive.
Her play should have silenced any litigation and re-litigation of Dallas’ decision to draft her first overall. It might be fun to imagine Miles and Bueckers establishing some backcourt magic, or envision what Awa Fam, selected by the Seattle Storm at No. 3, could do for Dallas.
But, Fudd just fits.
She’s drilling almost 38 percent of her 4.5 3-point attempts per game on her way to an average of 13.2 points. Plus, she’s adding almost three “stocks” per game. The Wings are also at their best in Azzi’s minutes, outscoring opponents by a team-best 5.7 points per game. Just two games ago, she scored her career high, dropping 26 points on almost 65 percent shooting as the Wings won in Seattle.
Last time Dallas and Minnesota met, a Commissioner’s Cup game on June 9, Fudd had one of her rougher nights, struggling to find the bottom of the net as she was just 2-for-12 from the field for six points. Miles, in contrast, was grooving, scoring a game-high 24 points for the victorious Lynx.
The Lynx also won the first game between the two squads, which took place in the season’s first week.
The Wings don’t need their No. 1 pick to explode in order to get their first win of the season over the Lynx, a fact that further testifies how Fudd functions within the overall talent of the team; she can assume greater or lesser usage depending on the demands of a particular game.
Of course, it wouldn’t hurt if she dropped in five or six 3s on excellent efficiency.
Similarly, while the Lynx are a bit more dependent on Miles, as she is their primary offensive initiator, Minnesota’s vets—whether it be Howard, Williams, Kayla McBride or even Maya Caldwell—also have stepped up to steer the Lynx to wins when their rook has struggled.
That said, the talent of Fudd and Miles, on top of the big games they’ve already put on their WNBA resumes, suggests it won’t be surprising if one of them is most responsible for their team’s win.
What’s your prediction? Will Azzi or Liv have the bigger game? Could Azzi top Olivia’s single-game rookie 3-point record of eight 3s in a single game? Could Olivia get her first triple-double? Or, are you trusting one the Dallas or Minnesota vets to pull their squad to a win?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
Also, let us know what other rookies you’ll have you’ll be watching closely on Sunday. Is a major Lauren Betts breakout in store for the Washington Mystics when she faces the undersized frontcourt of the Portland Fire (3 p.m. ET, WNBA League Pass)?
Will her former UCLA teammate, Gabriela Jaquez, help the Chicago Sky extend their winning streak to three games against the Las Vegas Aces (4 p.m. ET, CBS)? Or, maybe it will be undrafted rookie revelation Sydney Taylor who gets the buckets Chicago needs for another wins?
Can Pauline Astier keep impressing for the New York Liberty when they play the Golden State Valkyries (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)? And for Golden State, might Justē Jocytē finally get a chance to make her mark?
