Arike Ogunbowale is one of the players who should be on the juiciest end of the new CBA, being that she’s eligible for a $1.4 million supermax salary. The Dallas Wings guard has now re-signed with the team, and as it appears, she will be leaving some bread on the table.
According to sources, Arike Ogunbowale actually took a pay cut in this new deal, instead of the max salary she would have gotten. The reason? To help the team build a championship-caliber roster around her, and of course her teammate Paige Bueckers.
I’m told Arike Ogunbowale took a pay cut to help position the Wings to build out the roster. https://t.co/AXXBeQwLm2
— Khristina (@Khristina) April 10, 2026
The 2025 WNBA season wasn’t quite it for the Dallas Wings, as they finished with a 10-34 record. That was the worst record in the league. They finished 7th in the Western Conference and 13th overall, failing to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive year. She herself, for the first time in her career, saw a significant dip in her scoring production, averaging a career-low 15.5 points per game.
Hopefully, with this sacrifice that Arike Ogunbowale made, the team can get to bring in more pieces for a more balanced roster that would hopefully get better results next season. And of course, they also hold the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming 2026 WNBA Draft. With that as well, they may go on to build a roster that may actually compete.
