WNBA quarter-season awards: Napheesa Collier has MVP edge over Caitlin Clark; Paige Bueckers leading ROY race

The 2025 WNBA season has already reached the quarter-way mark, which is a perfect time to step back and take stock of the league. There has been plenty of exciting action so far, and some brilliant individual performances. But which players have been the best overall?

Let’s take some time to evaluate the races for the six major awards: MVP, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, Sixth Player of the Year and Coach of the Year. As always, some of these honors have a clear-cut choice, while others will be up for debate. 

Betting favorite per DraftKings: Collier, -275

Collier had the best season of her career in 2024, when she was named Defensive Player of the Year and finished runner-up for MVP. She’s been even better this season, and is the clear choice for MVP after the first quarter of the season — though there is a slight concern about her short-term status after she left the Lynx’s win over the Las Vegas Aces with a back injury. 

That early exit also dinged Collier’s numbers, but even so, she’s leading the league in scoring with a career-high 24.4 points per game, while adding 8.5 rebounds, a career-high 3.6 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocks. Thanks to her incredible play on both ends of the floor, the Lynx are in first place at 11-1, and earned a spot in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game, where they’ll look to defend their title. 

Top contenders: Caitlin Clark (Indiana Fever), A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces)

Betting favorite: Bueckers, -1000

Bueckers had a forgettable debut, missed four games with a concussion and injury and has faced more competition for this honor than most expected heading into the season. Even so, she’s been the best rookie and has shown why she was the No. 1 overall pick. 

Through nine games, Bueckers is putting up 17.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 2.1 steals and 1 block per game, while shooting 47.5% from the field. Among rookies she is first in scoring, fourth in rebounding, first in assists, first in steals, and fifth in field goal percentage. She’s on pace to join Caitlin Clark as the only rookies to average at least 15 points and five assists.  

Top contenders: Kiki Iriafen (Washington Mystics), Sonia Citron (Washington Mystics

Defensive Player of the Year: A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces

The Aces are under .500 on the season and rank ninth in the league in defensive rating (102.8), and Wilson has missed three games with a concussion. It’s extremely difficult to earn Defensive Player of the Year in such circumstances, but Wilson has been so good on that side of the ball that she might manage to pull it off. 

Wilson’s 2.6 blocks per game rank first in the league, and her two steals rank third; no one else is in the top-five in both categories, and she’s on pace to become the first player ever to average at least two blocks and two steals for an entire season. The Aces also have a significantly better defensive rating when she’s on the court (97.5) than when she sits (108.2). 

Top contenders: Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx), Jonquel Jones (New York Liberty)

Betting favorite: Brittney Sykes, +250

How does a former Rookie of the Year and two-time All-Star become the leading candidate for Most Improved Player? By putting together a historically great start to the season and career-highs across the board. 

Gray has been unbelievable so far for the Dream, who are off to an 8-4 start under first-year coach Karl Smesko. His system has completely unlocked Gray. She’s putting up 20.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists, while shooting 50.6% from the field, including 42.3% from 3-point range. Gray is the first guard to average 20 points on 50% shooting or better since Seimone Augustus in 2009, and is on pace to become the fourth player ever to average 20/5/4. 

Top contenders: Lexie Hull (Indiana Fever), Gabby Williams (Seattle Storm)

Sixth Player of the Year: Natisha Hiedeman, Minnesota Lynx

Betting favorite: Erica Wheeler, +400

Pop quiz: Do you know which player on the Lynx not named Napheesa Collier has the best on-off net rating differential? That’s right, it’s Natisha Hiedeman (plus-12.4). The back-up point guard has been awesome for the Lynx this season, and is a major reason why they’re off to an 11-1 start and back in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game. 

Hiedeman, who hit a game-winning 3-pointer to beat the Phoenix Mercury earlier this season, is averaging a career-high 9.3 points, 2.1 rebounds and three assists on 52.5% shooting. Notably, her finishing around the basket has been tremendous; she’s converted 77.4% of her restricted area attempts despite standing 5-foot-8. 

Top contenders: Kennedy Burke (New York Liberty), Monique Billings (Golden State Valkyries)

Coach of the Year: Nate Tibbetts, Phoenix Mercury

There are a number of deserving candidates for this award at the quarter-mark of the season, but Nate Tibbetts ultimately has the best case. The second-year coach has the Phoenix Mercury in third place at 9-4 despite a parade of injuries and a largely unknown supporting cast. 

The Mercury cleaned house during the offseason, and brought in Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally to form a new big three along with Kahleah Copper. Those aggressive moves left them with little cap space to fill out the rest of their roster, and they brought in the likes of Kathryn Westbeld, Lexi Held, Monique Akoa Makani and Kitija Laksa. There were a number of questions about whether Phoenix would have enough depth to compete at the top of the league, especially after Copper had knee surgery just before the season started and Alyssa Thomas went down with a calf injury. The Mercury have answered them all, thanks in large part to excellent coaching by Tibbetts. 

Top contenders: Karl Smesko (Atlanta Dream), Sandy Brondello (New York Liberty)