Okay, the new stars didn’t actually cry. I might have. I won’t confirm, but this is a pretty ugly box score from the Dallas Wings’ preseason game against the Las Vegas Aces.

Take a moment to ingest that. After Dallas won the first quarter by two points, they were outscored 89 to 53. It was a balanced attack, with all the Aces starters playing between 20 and 30 minutes. The whole starting lineup had a positive net rating.

We can compare that to Paige Bueckers’ minus-23. Single game +/- isn’t everything, but when things get that off-balance, the story is pretty simple. When Paige was on the court, they still lost the minutes to the Aces. Handily.

Paige had 10 points, four rebounds and one assist in 23 minutes. Paige’s running mate, former first option Arike Ogunbowale, had five points, two rebounds, and three assists in 23 minutes. Also, minus-23. When your top two top players perform this way, you’re going to have a tough time staying in a game against one of the best teams in the league.

There were some bright spots. JJ Quinerly got 16 points in 13 minutes. Maddy Siegrist filled the stat sheet in hopes of receiving more and more important minutes. If either of these two players could pop this year, that would be great. I’ve been rooting for Maddy for a bit.

But yeah.

The Dallas Wings, as it stands right now, are still toward the bottom of the league

I am sorry to say. I don’t think this should necessarily be a surprise, but one of the best things about the WNBA is that getting good and staying good is earned. It is hard, but it can be done. With Bueckers there alongside Arike, they have a start.

It’s also necessary to keep in mind this is a preseason game. The rotation would have been much different had the entire purpose of this game been to determine a victor, but no. These games are also for testing out a game plan, seeing who will make your final roster, seeing what tweaks need to be made at game speed versus what you see at practice. There is a lot of evaluation in addition to the competition.

But the competition aspect of this game wasn’t close. This was a 34-point victory for the Aces. It’s not a pleasant thing to experience. They are young. Hopefully this portion of the rebuild doesn’t last too long.