A week ago,
Paige Bueckers was named the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year. The Dallas Wings phenom received 70 of 72 votes, nearly walking away with a near unanimous victory over Washington wing Sonia Citron. Bueckers is the third player in franchise history to win the award, following in the footsteps of Allisha Gray (2017) and Cheryl Ford (2003 with the Detroit Shock).
Bueckers had a historic campaign, breaking several rookie records and starting the All-Star game. It was a truly special season for a first-year player, one that announced the former UConn guard as an instant superstar. Watching Bueckers dazzle every night was such a kinetic experience, and it made me wonder just how impressive her rookie year was within the context of recent league history.
The answer might surprise some folks. After taking a close look at the last 10 Rookie of the Year winners, I walked away with one major sentiment: this league has a lot of amazing players, and most of them have been great since year one. With that in mind, let’s rank all 10 winners since 2016 and see where Bueckers stacks up.
10. Michaela Onyenwere (Chicago Sky, 2021)
A product of what many consider to be the worst
WNBA draft class in league history, Onyenwere won the Rookie of the Year award almost by default. Her 8.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game averages on .401/.327/.836 splits were nothing to write home about, but they were the most impressive numbers of any rookie that year. Not a single rookie eclipsed the nine points per game threshold in 2021.
Wings fans may remember Dallas having the top two picks of the 2021 draft in Charli Collier and Awak Kuier, neither of whom came close to winning the award. Aari McDonald finished second in ROY voting with a solid season, and Didi Richards (who is no longer in the league) finished third. Onyenwere has floated around the league as a depth role player, but she’s never been better than she was in her rookie season. She is by far the worst ROY winner of the last 10 years and is likely at the bottom of the all-time rankings.
9. Allisha Gray (Dallas Wings, 2017)
Gray will likely earn her first All-WNBA First Team selection this season for the Dream, but the first big award of her career happened right here in Dallas. Fresh off a national title with South Carolina, Gray was drafted fourth overall by the Wings and immediately became a key contributor for the squad. While Gray’s 13 points per game average was great for a rookie, she did it on poor efficiency, and she wasn’t the top rookie scorer of the 2017 season (Brittney Sykes).
Sykes gave Gray a run for her money in a two-horse ROY race, and the two guards put up very similar numbers across the board. But ultimately, Gray edged Sykes out with 30 to 10 first-place votes. Gray’s two-way impact and solid all-around play were impressive, and she seemed destined for future stardom in the league. Alas, Dallas never fully unlocked Gray while she was here, and the organization decided to prioritize Arike Ogunbowale after drafting her in 2019. One has to imagine they would make a different decision if given the chance to do things over again.
8. Crystal Dangerfield (Minnesota Lynx, 2020)
Dangerfield’s win during the 2020 Wubble season has to be one of the wackiest and most unpredictable outcomes in league history. The 2020 draft, pushed back from April to September due to the COVID-19 pandemic, featured two future superstar prospects in Sabrina Ionescu and Satou Sabally. Both Oregon products were expected to vie for Rookie of the Year honors, but it was Dangerfield, a second-round pick, who ended up on top. Ionescu was hurt and played all but three games, but Dangerfield still edged out Sabally and Chennedy Carter for the award.
As the 16th overall pick out of UConn, Dangerfield is the lowest drafted rookie to ever win ROY. Due to Minnesota’s injuries and Odyssey Sims’ maternity leave, Dangerfield was unexpectedly thrust into a major role and performed admirably. At just 5’5”, the diminutive Dangerfield proved to be a dynamic scorer, averaging 16.1 points per game on 47% shooting. Although these were impressive numbers, the entire season took place in isolation with no fans in the Wubble, and the season lasted just 22 games. As such, Dangerfield’s production can be met with some skepticism. Indeed, Dangerfield never came close to her rookie numbers again and is currently out of the league.
7. Rhyne Howard (Atlanta Dream, 2022)
Howard, the No. 1 overall pick out of Kentucky, came into the league and established exactly who she is: a high-volume, low-efficiency bucket getter who uses her insane length and athleticism to wreak havoc on the defensive end. Howard ran away with the Rookie of the Year award, receiving 53 of 56 votes. Shakira Austin and NaLyssa Smith had solid rookie campaigns that year, but only Howard looked like a future superstar.
With a strong 16.2 points per game average in year one, Howard showcased the scoring prowess that made her the top pick in the draft. What set her apart was her willingness to take and make a ton of tough threes; she attempted 7.3 threes per game in her rookie season (34% shooting) and shot the fourth-most threes in the league. Howard has grown significantly as a defender and playmaker in recent years, but her scoring profile and shot diet haven’t changed much since she entered the league as a rookie phenom.
6. Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx, 2019)
Though Collier is now an unquestioned top-two player in the WNBA, her career had more modest beginnings. The Lynx superstar was very good as a rookie, but she didn’t enter the league as a world beater. Collier was drafted sixth overall, and while the five teams that passed on her all deeply regret their decision, her game has grown significantly over the past few seasons.
Collier’s rookie season saw her post a solid 13.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.6 assits, and 2.8 stocks on .490/.360/.792 shooting splits. These numbers were enough for an All-Star selection and ROY honors, as Collier beat out Arike Ogunbowale for the award. The race was somewhat closer than it should have been, with Collier getting 29 of 43 votes. Though Ogunbowale averaged a massive 19.1 points per game, Collier’s overall impact was far greater. She’s one of the most complete players we’ve ever seen.
5. Aliyah Boston (Indiana Fever, 2023)
This is where the wheat starts to separate from the chaff. Boston was dominant as a rookie in 2023, winning ROY unanimously in a race that wasn’t remotely close. The former No.1 overall pick out of South Carolina looked the part right away, making the All-Star team and finishing 11th in MVP voting.
Boston was a two-way force in her rookie season, showcasing the creative post scoring and defensive dominance that made her a blue-chip prospect. She stuffed the stat sheet, averaging 14.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.3 blocks, and 1.3 steals per game. Boston also led the league in field-goal percentage, the first rookie to ever do so. Though Boston wasn’t quite as good in her sophomore season, she took another leap in 2025, establishing herself as one of the premier post players in the WNBA.
4. Paige Bueckers (Dallas Wings, 2025)
With how good Bueckers was in 2025, it’s hard to imagine that she only checks in at fourth on this list. But that says more about how incredible the next three players were than it does about where Bueckers didn’t measure up. The UConn phenom lived up to every bit of the hype in year one, and she should have been the unanimous Rookie of the Year. No disrespect to Sonia Citron, whose rookie year cleared that of several players on this list, but Bueckers was in a different class than her peers.
If you’re reading this, you’re likely aware of how good Bueckers was in 2025. Bueckers set the rookie scoring record for points in a game with her 44-point masterpiece in Los Angeles. That total was also the most points scored by any player in the WNBA in a game this season. She was the only rookie to score 30 or more points in a game, which she did twice. Bueckers ranked in the league’s top 10 in both points (fifth), assists (ninth), and steals (sixth) per game, the only player to do so. Bueckers took more tough shots than any player and still posted an above-average true-shooting percentage (56.7%). And she did all this despite playing for an abysmal, injury-ravaged team with virtually no help to speak of. There is no limit to how good she can be.
3. A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces, 2018)
When it’s all said and done, A’ja Wilson will go down as the greatest player in WNBA history. And the four-time MVP hit the ground running in her rookie season, immediately announcing herself as a superstar. Wilson averaged 20.7 points per game, the highest mark since Simone Augusts in 2026 (21.6) and only the second ever 20+ PPG rookie season.
Along with Wilson’s unprecedented scoring, the No. 1 pick out of South Carolina contributed in all other areas of the box score and showcased massive defensive potential. Her strong two-way play earned her an All-Star selection and a seventh-place MVP finish. Wilson was remarkable as a rookie, so much so that she actually took a slight step back in her sophomore season before morphing into the best player in the world. The top three on this list are so close, but Wilson gets the short end of the stick due to her good-but-not-great efficiency on her shot diet (53.4% true shooting), her defense not quite being plus-level, and her team not making the playoffs.
2. Caitlin Clark (Indiana Fever, 2024)
Clark came into the WNBA as the most anticipated rookie in the history of the league. The hype surrounding her was comparable to that of LeBron James, Peyton Manning, Bryce Harper, Shaq, you name it. What Clark did in college at Iowa was legendary, and the Caitlin Clark Effect transformed the landscape of women’s basketball seemingly overnight. With all that fanfare, it was undoubtedly difficult for Clark to live up to the lofty expectations set for her in year one.
And yet, Clark exceeded them. Her rookie season saw her break more records than I can list. She set both the WNBA single-game and single-season assists records. She hit the second-most three-pointers in a season ever. She became the first rookie to ever record a triple-double, and she did it twice. In terms of offensive production, Clark had the greatest rookie season of all time. Her combination of otherworldly playmaking, pace, and game-breaking three-point shooting had never been seen before. Clark made All-WNBA First Team, the first rookie since Candace Parker in 2008 and the fifth rookie ever to earn the honor. She finished fourth in MVP voting. Somehow, Clark didn’t win ROY unanimously, as one bold voter chose Angel Reese instead. The only reason Clark isn’t first on this list is that the person who beat her out was more incredible on both ends of the floor. Clark’s defense and propensity for turnovers hold her back just a bit, but her rookie season was transcendent. Hopefully, Clark can shake off her injury-plagued sophomore campaign and get healthy in 2026.
1. Breanna Stewart (Seattle Storm, 2016)
Breanna Stewart has one of the most impressive basketball resumes of all time. It started at UConn, where she won a national title all four years of her college career. Her arrival in Seattle brought the Storm out of the abyss— the team was headed nowhere, with franchise legend Sue Bird seriously considering moving on until they won the lottery. From day one, it was clear that Stewart would be not only a superstar player, but one of the inner-circle greats of the game’s history.
Stewart dragged Seattle to the playoffs in year one, a season removed from the second worst-record in the league. She averaged 18.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.9 blocks per game. Stewart was an efficient three-level scorer, got to the free throw line, and hit 45 threes as a 6’4” power forward. On defense, she made an immediate impact, excelling both on and off ball and earning Second Team All-Defense honors. The Seattle defensive rating was nine points better with Stewart on the floor, the best mark on the team. Stewart did nearly everything at a high level and made All-WNBA Second Team (she was robbed of First Team). Inexplicably, she did not win ROY unanimously, as one confused voter decided to vote for Moriah Jefferson instead. When you add up production, two-way impact, team success, and accolades, Breann Stewart had the best rookie season of the last decade.
: @DLLS_Sports pic.twitter.com/6Nzknkujrm
