Paige Bueckers is officially a member of the Dallas Wings. Unsurprisingly, the UConn star was the number-one pick on Monday night and will join Arike Ogunbowale, DiJonai Carrington, and NaLyssa Smith in Dallas. It is a great pick for the Wings that will not only add great talent to the roster but also one of the most popular young players out there.
The Indiana Fever showed the league what can happen if you add a college phenom to the roster. After drafting Caitlin Clark, the Fever’s popularity surged, teams had to start moving games to bigger arenas, and Indiana quickly became a free-agency destination. Building on the team’s new-found popularity, the front office quickly formed a championship contender around Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston.
Bueckers could have a similar impact on the Wings, helping them return to contention. Since drafting Arike Ogunbowale, the Wings have only been on one deep playoff run. However, fans should be careful with comparing Bueckers’ rookie season to Clark’s.
Paige Bueckers doesn’t need to make history to have a successful rookie season
Paige Bueckers is an incredibly talented player. She will have a long, successful professional career and should be the early favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award. If she does, that would make her the fourth straight number-one pick to win the award.
Last season, WNBA fans were given the chance to watch a great rookie class, headlined by Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. Clark, particularly, lived up to the hype and raised expectations for what a rookie can do in the WNBA. Nevertheless, Wings fans should not focus on comparing Bueckers to Clark.
Bueckers can have a great rookie season even if she does not break as many records as Clark did with the Fever. Doing what Clark did as a rookie is incredibly difficult and far from the norm. There is a reason Clark was the first rookie since Candace Parker in 2008 to make the All-WNBA First-Team in her first season in the league. It takes an exceptional season to stand out as a rookie among all the veteran stars as well as health and team success.
There are other measures Wings fans can use to evaluate Bueckers’ success, and comparing her rookie season to Clark’s historic year would not be fair. No rookie should have to live up to that high of a standard to be considered a success.