The NCAA season is yet to conclude, and yet there is already talk of Paige Bueckers being the consensus first-overall pick of the 2025 WNBA Draft. The lottery results have been recently revealed, and one analyst imagines a scenario where the UConn star works her way to play for a team different from the one with the No. 1 pick.
The WNBA held its annual draft lottery last month to decide the order for the upcoming draft, with the Dallas Wings securing the top pick. The Wings finished last season with the second-worst record in the league.
Should Bueckers declare for the 2025 draft, Dallas are in a prime position to draft her and build the team around her. However, according to analyst Sabreena Merchant the UConn star also has the leverage of choosing whether to stay another year to play college basketball or ask for a trade as soon as the Wings pick her if she does not want to go to Dallas.
“If she decides against playing for the Wings—and the buzz around the league is that Dallas was not her preferred destination—she could exert whatever levers she can to get where she wants as soon as possible,” Merchant said.
“Whether that’s because she is chasing a national championship, prefers a different draft destination or wants to delay her pro career until the institution of a new WNBA collective bargaining agreement, there are incentives to play one more season with the Huskies. Even if Bueckers elects to go pro, she could simply demand a trade,” the analyst added.
Will Paige Bueckers use her unprecedented leverage? She could force a trade or return to UConn https://t.co/WeVQJKXh6S
— The Athletic WBB (@TheAthleticWBB) December 19, 2024
Bueckers is currently averaging 20.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 2.1 steals in the season.
Paige Bueckers posts on Instagram after UConn defeats Iowa State
Paige Bueckers appears to be enjoying what could be her final season with the UConn Huskies. Following their victory over the Iowa State Cyclones, she gave a hint about her headspace amid all the buzz about her being the consensus No. 1 of the 2025 WNBA Draft.
The Huskies lost their first game of the season to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish last Thursday, but they have since bounced back and returned to their winning ways when they dominated Iowa State on Tuesday, 101-68.
Bueckers took to Instagram to share an update to her followers—a bible verse that came with a message saying that she is living in the moment and not looking too far into the future.
View this post on Instagram
Unlike the rest of the basketball world, it seems like Bueckers is not thinking too much about her future at the moment.
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Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
