Sug Sutton is already finding a role with the Dallas Wings, and it starts with the same things she saw in Diana Taurasi years ago: leadership, presence and the way a guard carries herself. Sutton, a new Wings guard, signed a rest-of-season contract on Sunday and is set to debut Monday wearing No. 0.
That is why Sutton’s comparison of Paige Bueckers to Taurasi landed as more than a passing compliment. She said the connection has less to do with style than with personality and leadership, and that Bueckers feels, to her, like the kind of player who sets a tone before she even touches the ball. Sutton said she is excited to learn from Bueckers and get to know her better, while also noting that Bueckers and Azzi Fudd give the Wings added firepower around her.
Sutton knows what that kind of standard looks like because she lived it in Phoenix. She played alongside Taurasi and was on the roster when Taurasi became the WNBA’s first 10,000-point scorer, an experience Sutton described as special because it let her witness greatness up close. Her view of Taurasi still shapes how she talks about Bueckers now: one expected greatness from everyone around her, and Sutton said she sees the same edge in Bueckers.
For the Wings, the fit is practical as much as personal. Sutton said she plans to organize the offense and make plays off the dribble to create shots for the team’s scorers, while also bringing perimeter defense and energy. That matters because she is stepping into a backcourt thinned by an ankle injury to Odyssey Sims, which increases the need for another guard who can steady possessions without needing the ball every trip down the floor.
The question now is not whether Sutton understands the assignment. It is how quickly she can turn that read on Bueckers, and that promise of pass-first help, into real minutes for a team that needs order as much as it needs scoring. Monday will offer the first look.
