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Paige Bueckers is off to the next stage of her basketball career. The UConn guard was selected No. 1 overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft on Monday by the Dallas Wings, one week after winning a national championship in her final season with the Huskies.
Bueckers, 23, was the consensus favorite to go No. 1 overall and revealed her decision to enter the draft during the NCAA tournament’s third round.
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In four seasons at UConn, Bueckers averaged 19.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.1 steals, shooting 42% on 3-point attempts. During the Huskies’ NCAA tournament run, she was even better, scoring 24.8 points per game and shooting 48% on 3s. In a Sweet 16 victory over Oklahoma, Bueckers scored a career-high 40 points (29 in the second half), nailing 6-of-8 shots from long range.
In mid-January, she became the fastest Huskies player to score 2,000 points in her career. Bueckers reached the milestone in 102 games, beating out Hall of Famer Maya Moore, who got to 2,000 in 108 games. She was also the third UConn player to register 2,000 points, 400 rebounds, 400 assists and 200 steals in her career, joining Moore and Breanna Stewart.
A three-time All-American, Bueckers was with UConn for five years, but played four seasons — two full campaigns — due to injury. After winning the Naismith national player of the year as a freshman, she missed 19 games during her sophomore season due to a fractured tibia. Bueckers then missed the entire 2022-23 campaign because of a torn ACL. A knee sprain kept her out for two games earlier this past season.
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There was speculation that Bueckers could hold off on joining the WNBA this coming season while the league and players association negotiated a new collective bargaining agreement. (Players have said they’re willing to go on strike if they don’t receive a satisfactory deal amid the WNBA’s growing popularity.)
In that scenario, Bueckers could have played strictly with the 3×3 women’s basketball league Unrivaled to earn a professional salary while better terms were negotiated for her rookie WNBA contract. But why not both?
Bueckers agreed to a three-year contract with Unrivaled under terms that will pay her more than her rookie WNBA deal. Unrivaled was conceived as an option for women’s basketball players who previously played overseas for more lucrative incomes while the WNBA was in its offseason. All players in the league draw an average $222,000 salary from an $8 million pool.
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Comparatively, WNBA players average $125,000, with rookies earning $78,831 in their first seasons under the current CBA. Bueckers’ salary would increase each year, equaling a total of $348,198 over four seasons.
The Wings won the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft Lottery after finishing with the second-worst record in the league at 9-31. Leading scorer Arike Ogunbowale (22.9 points per game) returns this season, but Dallas lost Satou Sabally, who requested to play elsewhere and was traded to the Phoenix Mercury. DiJonai Carrington was acquired by the Wings as part of that deal, which eventually evolved to include four teams.
