Maddy Siegrist, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft, has been ruled out indefinitely with a broken finger, the Dallas Wings announced Wednesday. Siegrist suffered the injury Monday during the team's loss to the Minnesota Lynx.
Siegrist's injury continues a brutal run of poor health for the Wings, who have seen key players go down left and right this year. She will join Satou Sabally, Arike Ogunbowale and Natasha Howard on the sideline. Even promising rookie Jaelyn Brown has been limited to just one game.
Here's a look at their myriad injuries and the return timelines for each player:
- Satou Sabally: Last season's Most Improved Player has not played at all this season due to a shoulder injury that happened in February while she was playing for Germany in an Olympic qualifying tournament. She is expected to return after the Olympic break in August.
- Natasha Howard: The two-time All-Star and former Defensive Player of the Year went off for 15 points, 13 rebounds and five assists in the Wings' first game, but broke her foot in the process. The initial timeline was three-to-six weeks and she is well past that short end. Barring a setback, she could be on the court early in July.
- Arike Ogunbowale: The Wings have leaned even more heavily on Ogunbowale this season, and she's responded by averaging career-highs across the board: 24.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 2.9 steals. However, she was held out of their loss to the Wings with Achilles soreness. While she is considered day-to-day, there is always concern with an Achilles issue.
- Jaelyn Brown: After going undrafted in 2020, Jaelyn Brown earned her first WNBA contract this spring with an impressive showing in training camp. She was expected to play a real role for the Wings this season but broke her nose in the season opener and has been out ever since with an illness. Her return is still to be determined.
Due to all of those injuries, Siegrist had been thrust into a bigger role and was enjoying a breakout season. Through 13 games she was averaging 14.6 points and 4.2 rebounds on 52.3% shooting from the field, ranking second on the team in scoring. Second-year players typically don't win Most Improved Player, but she was certainly going to receive votes for that award.
After a multi-year rebuild, the Wings finally took a big step last season when they secured their first winning season 2015 and claimed their first playoff series win since 2009. They have understandably not been able to build on that success and as of Wednesday sit in 11th place at 3-10.
Though still just one game out of the eighth and final playoff spot, they may be best off tanking the rest of the way to get into the lottery for the highly-anticipated 2025 WNBA Draft, which is expected to feature UConn star Paige Bueckers.
