Despite being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft and drawing early comparisons to Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers was completely shut out in ESPN’s latest Rookie of the Year poll.
The two-time college All-American and national champion arrived in the league with sky-high expectations after a standout run at UConn.
According to a panel of ESPN analysts, however, she’s not even in the top tier of rookies so far this season, with her name missing from a list of early Rookie of the Year favorites.
Paige Bueckers Receives Zero Votes in ESPN Panel’s Rookie Of The Year Discussion
Bueckers was widely considered the runaway favorite for WNBA Rookie of the Year before the 2025 season began, a notion unsurprising given her decorated college career.
However, ten games into the 2025 WNBA season, things haven’t gone as expected: Bueckers didn’t receive a single Rookie of the Year frontrunner vote in ESPN’s latest awards panel.
As things stand, ESPN’s panel unanimously selected the fourth overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, Kiki Iriafen of the Washington Mystics, as their Rookie of the Year. Even more notably, their first runner-up was Iriafen’s teammate, Sonia Citron, the third selection in the 2025 Draft, also by the Mystics.
ESPN credited Iriafen’s 52.8% field goal shooting and her near double-double stat line (14.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game) as justification for naming her the top rookie so far.
Citron is currently averaging 13.7 points while shooting 49.0% from the field, 37.5% from 3-point range, and 86.7% from the free-throw line—a near 50-40-90 split for her rookie season thus far.
ESPN did give Bueckers an honorable mention as their third choice for Rookie of the Year, acknowledging she might make a run upon returning from injury, having “missed three games because of a concussion and another because of illness.”
The article also noted that “the four games Bueckers has missed represent 40% of the team’s schedule, but they’ll be less than 10% by season’s end.”
Bueckers’ absence doesn’t help the already struggling 1-9 Dallas Wings, and the effects of her absence are showing up in the numbers:
Paige Bueckers is a difference maker. ROTY HER #WINGSUP pic.twitter.com/bhjU4x1DIW
— Anastasia (@TheAnastasia25) June 8, 2025
The Wings’ plummeting point differential—from a manageable 3.0 to a staggering 10.3—underscores just how much they’ve missed their top rookie.
Before her injury, Bueckers averaged 14.7 points and 6.7 assists, flashing the playmaking promise that made her the top pick in 2025.
If Dallas hopes to salvage its season, they’ll need Bueckers not just back, but ready to lead as a franchise cornerstone.
