DALLAS — After a historic 2023 season, the Dallas Wings added two new members to its roster during the WNBA Draft on Monday night as they look to duplicate that success in 2024.
No, they didn't grab Caitlin Clark -- the Iowa star went No. 1 overall, as expected, to the Indiana Fever -- but the team did bolster its backcourt, as many analysts suggested they might.
With the No. 5 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, the Wings chose fifth-year senior guard Jacy Sheldon out of Ohio State. An Ohio native and second-team AP All-American this year, Sheldon will look bring some defensive grit to the Wings backcourt. A two-time All-Defensive team selection in the Big Ten, the 5-foot-10 Sheldon also averaged 17.8 points, 3.8 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game while shooting 50.5% from the field and 37.3% from three-point range.
Then, with the No. 9 overall pick, the team selected another guard, Carla Leite of France. Just 20 years old, the 5-foot-9 point guard averaged 15.8 points, 5.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game while playing for Tarbes Gespe Bigorre of the Ligue Féminine de Basketball this past season. It's unclear if Leite will join the roster immediately, or be allowed to develop more in France before being brought over to the WNBA.
Whenever they join the team, the new additions -- two of 12 players picked in the draft's opening round -- will join a talented roster already featuring All-WNBA First Team forward Satou Sabally and three-time WNBA All-Star Arike Ogunbowale, who led the Wings last season to their first playoff series win since moving to Dallas in 2016.
The team is committed to its core, too. Sabally signed a new contract with the Wings earlier this offseason. So, too, did center Kalani Brown, who helped provide the Wings with a real paint presence after joining the roster ahead of the 2023 campaign.
The Wings' 2024 season -- and second year under Head Coach Latricia Trammel -- is just a month away. The team's season gets going exactly one night from Monday night's WNBA Draft as the Wings welcome the Chicago Sky to Arlington's College Park Center on Wednesday, May 15.
Some legends will also be watching on the team as it looks to build upon the foundation it has put into place in recent years. Last week, the team revealed that women's basketball icons Sheryl Swoopes and Nancy Lieberman -- both inductees into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame -- will serve as analysts for the team's local broadcasts on Bally Sports Southwest in 2024.
