Azzi Fudd has the WNBA’s latest Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) to thank for her brand new contract. Selected first overall by the Dallas Wings, Fudd reunites with her former UConn Huskies teammate PaigeBueckers in a backcourt that won an NCAA National Championship together under Geno Auriemma back in 2025.Azzi Fudd was drafted No. 1 overall to the Dallas WingsGettyBut the financial benefits to being drafted No. 1 overall are huge, with Fudd now set to receive a rookie-scale contract worth $500,000. This is a 534 percent increase on 2025 No. 1 overall pick Bueckers, whose rookie salary saw her earn $78,831 in Year 1.The disparity between Fudd and Caitlin Clark‘s rookie contract is even greater, with the Indiana Fever star earning $76,535 on her deal from 2024 – 553 percent less than the 2026 overall pick. Fudd will see her salary rise to $520,000 in 2027 and $572,000 in 2028, while she also has a team option of $646,360 available in 2029.The former Huskies star’s contract sum is almost double of that of last season’s maximum salary, which was worth $249,244. But thanks to a lengthy negotiation process between the WNBA and the players’ union, a ‘transformational’ seven-year labor deal brings financial stability to players in the league, with a maximum salary now worth $1.4 million. In fact, the top 15 players who were selected in the 2026 draft, including that of UCLA trio Lauren Betts, Gabriela Jacquez, and Kiki Rice, all stand to make an average of $386,000 in their first season at the pro level.That is an increase of 415 percent.For Fudd, though, who averaged a career-high 17.3 points shooting at 44.7 percent from beyond the three-point line, it’s not all about the money. “I can’t wait. Obviously, Paige, Arike [Ogunbowale], getting to watch them and then seeing their new pieces. I’m so excited,” Fudd said. Fudd shot over 40 percent from the 3PT line in 2025GettyFudd reunites with Bueckers, with the two having won a National Championship together at UConnGetty“I can’t wait to get there. I can’t wait to learn how to play with them, learn how they play, their style of play and how I can contribute.”Fudd was a late rise to No. 1 overallFudd wasn’t always projected to go No. 1 overall, with TCU’s Olivia Miles tipped to go to Dallas in various mock drafts, with both Awa Fam and Betts also linked. But for Wings general manager Curt Miller, the former UConn guard was the right fit to the roster they had constructed early on in free agency. “I will tell you that Azzi was our pick, is our pick. But the free agency success in the post made it crystal clear,” Miller said.This was something that head coach Jose Fernandez agreed with. “We never wavered on what we needed. She was a right fit for this team,” Fernandez said. Bueckers and Ogunbowale have a new teammate in townGetty“She was the right fit for the locker room, and she brings what this team needed in regards to spacing, her quick release or 3-point shooting, and she’s coming from a program that is great in the locker room, and they know how to win, and that’s what we want here in Dallas.”Fudd and Bueckers will take to the court together for the first time in preseason on April 30, when they take on Clark and the Fever, who opted to run it back with Sophie Cunningham, Lexie Hull and veteran Kelsey Mitchell, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.The two teams will meet again nine days later on May 9 for their first game of the 2026 WNBA regular season.Stay up to date with the latest from the WNBA across all platforms – follow our dedicated talkSPORT USA Facebook page and subscribe to our talkSPORT USA YouTube channel for all the news, exclusives, interviews and more.