The Dallas Wings made a pair of roster moves official on Wednesday, announcing that center Li Yueru and guard Grace Berger have both accepted qualifying offers from the franchise. The decisions signal the Wings’ commitment to building depth at key positions heading into the offseason, retaining two players who each made meaningful contributions during the 2025 WNBA season under challenging circumstances.
Li Yueru Solidifies Her Role After Midseason Arrival
Li Yueru’s path to Dallas was anything but conventional. The 6-foot-7 center was acquired via a midseason trade with the Seattle Storm on June 14, 2025, and wasted little time making her presence felt in the paint. Appearing in 22 games for the Wings, Yueru started 12 of those contests and posted averages of 7.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game, numbers that steadily improved as she acclimated to her new surroundings.
The highlight of Yueru’s Dallas tenure came on August 12, when she erupted for a career-high 20 points in a dramatic 81-80 victory over the Indiana Fever. That performance was part of a broader stretch of confidence from the big woman, who scored in double figures in three consecutive games for the first time in her career, a July 9 road tilt at Chicago, July 13 in Indiana, and July 16 at home against Las Vegas. For a player still relatively early in her professional development, stringing together elite performances in succession marked a significant milestone.
Across all 31 games she played in 2025, including those with Seattle before the trade, Yueru set career highs in every major statistical category. She averaged 6.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 0.9 assists, and 0.3 blocks per game, while also shooting 36.4 percent from three-point range. That shooting efficiency from the perimeter is a particularly notable development for a player of her size, suggesting an expanding offensive repertoire that could make her a versatile weapon for Dallas moving forward.
The only damper on an otherwise impressive second half of the season was an injury that sidelined Yueru for the final ten games. Her acceptance of the qualifying offer suggests both parties are optimistic that she will return healthy and continue her upward trajectory in 2026.
Grace Berger Embraces Starting Role and Sets Career Bests
Grace Berger’s journey to a full season with Dallas was equally winding. The seventh overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft initially joined the Wings on a seven-day hardship contract on July 16, 2025, before earning a rest-of-season deal shortly thereafter, a testament to the immediate impact she made on the coaching staff and organization.
The guard appeared in 18 games for Dallas, starting 13 of them and averaging 3.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.2 assists. When factoring in her full 2025 campaign across 19 total games, Berger posted career-best marks in both rebounding (3.3 per game) and assists (3.1 per game). Those numbers reflect the kind of steady, playmaking presence that championship-caliber teams often identify as essential glue, players who may not dominate the box score but consistently elevate the players around them.
Berger’s 2025 season was also dotted with individual career highlights. She set new personal bests in rebounds (eight in a single game), assists (seven), steals (three), and blocks (three) throughout the year. Those single-game performances reveal a player capable of taking over a contest in multiple ways, not just through scoring. Her versatility on both ends of the floor was on full display, reinforcing why Dallas was eager to retain her after her hardship stint.
At just a few years into her professional career, Berger represents one of the more intriguing developmental pieces on Dallas’s roster. The Wings will be banking on continued growth from the former Indiana Hoosiers standout, who has shown flashes of the all-around game that made her a lottery-caliber selection in 2023.
What These Signings Mean for the Wings Going Forward
By securing both Yueru and Berger on qualifying offers, the Dallas Wings are signaling that continuity and internal development remain central pillars of their franchise-building philosophy. Both players bring qualities that complement the core of the roster: Yueru provides size, interior presence, and an emerging perimeter game, while Berger delivers the kind of high-energy, multi-category contributions that can shift momentum on any given night.
With questions still lingering around roster construction and competitiveness heading into 2026, these moves offer a measure of stability. The Wings have two players who know the system, have chemistry with their teammates, and are hungry to build on individually productive, if abbreviated, seasons. For a franchise looking to take meaningful steps forward, that combination of familiarity and upside is exactly the kind of foundation worth investing in.
