As the envelopes were opened for the 2025 WNBA draft lottery, two things were a sure-shot lock. The first, Dallas Wings would draft Paige Bueckers and the second, she would almost certainly win the Rookie of the Year. She was considered such a favorite that even before she stepped on the floor, her odds of winning the award were -375. While many agreed with these odds, two rookies from the Washington Mystics had something to say about that. 

Drafted as the third and fourth overall pick, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen have given a valiant fight to Paige Bueckers for the Rookie of the Year. In fact, Iriafen even managed to pip Bueckers for the Rookie of the Month honors for May. However, with the season winding down and with the Mystics seemingly out of the playoff picture, Paige Bueckers has for sure locked the award in. As things stand, she is a -5000 favorite to win the award. While many believe that Paige Bueckers’ performances this year have been enough, some WNBA analysts believe it to be a combination of her performances and the Washington rookies’ failure to take their team to the playoffs. 

Discussing the rookie race on the No Offseason: The Athletic Women’s Basketball Show podcast, Zena Keita said, “You mentioned, Paige is special… We get it. We know. We’ve seen it. We’ve seen it. But some people still it wasn’t until one, Washington drops out of the playoff race, or two, or a combination of that one and two, Paige has that 44-point game.” Despite Paige Bueckers having a record-breaking rookie season, some people still had doubts about her Rookie of the Year credentials. A major reason for that was the lack of team success the Dallas Wings had this year. 

Despite Paige’s best efforts, the Dallas Wings are still languishing at the bottom of the table with a 9-29 record. The Wings’ recent loss against the Los Angeles Sparks paints a fair picture of their 2025 season. Despite getting a 44-point, record-setting game where Paige became the first player in the league history to score 40+ points on an 80% or more shooting from the floor, they lost the game on a Kelsey Plum buzzer-beater. Unfortunately, that has been to long-running trend of the Dallas Wings. 

Just like the Dallas Wings, the Washington Mystics were also supposed to be in the rebuilding phase. However, led by their rookies and Brittney Sykes (before she got traded to the Seattle Storm), they remained somewhat near the playoff spots. In a season where both rookies were named All-Stars, Sonia Citron is averaging 15.2 points per game, and Kiki Iriafen is averaging 12.9 points per game. But after a run of four-straight losses, the curtains are drawing in on the Washington Mystics’ season. 

In this David vs. Goliath fight for the Rookie of the Year award, the only hope Sonia Citron or Kiki Iriafen had to upstage Bueckers was to lead the Mystics to the playoffs. However, with just six games remaining in their schedule, it seems like there will be no underdogs winning the race this time around. 

Paige Bueckers Gears Up in Her Unanimous ROTY Pursuit After Rookie Streak Gets Broken

In a season full of electric performances, Paige Bueckers has continued to perform remarkably throughout the season. From breaking Caitlin Clark’s records to creating league history, Paige Bueckers’ season has been amazing. Sure, the Wings may not have won as much as she or the entire organization would have hoped, but that can take nothing away from Bueckers’ season. However, the last two games haven’t been that great for the ROTY favorite. 

After her 44-point game, Paige Bueckers has had a slump of sorts. Following the Sparks’ game, the Wings were up against the Seattle Storm. In a game where the Wings were handed a 35-point thrashing, Paige went just 2-7 from the floor and finished with 11 points. However, her next game was even worse. Up against the newcomers to the league, the Golden State Valkyries, Paige’s streak of double-digit games as a rookie ended. 

She finished the game just 3-12 from the floor and just 9 points. Her streak ended after 30 games, three short of the current record holder, A’ja Wilson. Wilson scored double-digit points in her entire rookie season (33 games). But with the game against the Connecticut Sun just around the corner, Paige Bueckers will be looking to get back into form and continue her amazing rookie season. 

Yes, the Rookie of the Year award seems as good as hers. But for a competitor like Paige Bueckers, she would want to finish her rookie year as well as she can and be the first-ever unanimous Rookie of the Year in the league’s history.