ROTY Contenders Paige Bueckers, Sonia Citron Set to Fall Behind Caitlin Clark in All-Time Rookie Record

Paige Bueckers is now a beacon of hope in Dallas. In February, the Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Lakers in a trade that turned the world upside down. While the city was still recovering from that shock, the Cowboys traded Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. While the city is bleeding stars, Bueckers remains defiant in the face of her miserable 2025 season. ‘Just stick with us… We’re gonna figure it out.’ She told the fans. While Bueckers has emerged as the undisputable Rookie Of The Year in 2025, she is yet to catch her chief rival, Caitlin Clark.

Bueckers has zoomed past multiple of Clark’s records, becoming the fastest rookie ever to reach 500 points and 150 assists. She also smashed Clark’s All-Star voting record with more than 805,000 votes in her rookie year compared to Clark’s 700,735. Even Sonia Citron had a double-digit game against the 36th time in 41 career games, going past Clark’s 35 times in her 2024 season. Clark has sat on the sidelines while the 2025 rookies balled out. While the 2025 batch is exceptional on its own, they still have a lot to cover to come close to Clark.

Paige Bueckers and Sonia Citron are almost certain to fall behind Clark’s 2024 points tally. The Fever point guard set the record for Most points by a rookie in WNBA history at 769. She went past Semoine Augustus’ 2006 season, where she had 744 points. Bueckers currently has 623 with only 3 games to go. To beat Clark, she will need to average more than 48.6 points, which is almost impossible. 

Citron is slightly behind at 620 points, needing to average 50 points for her last three rookie games. If we look at the all-time list, both rookies still have a chance to go past some big names. Citron is at No.9 with just 1 point behind Breanna Stewart and Cynthia Cooper’s rookie numbers. While Bueckers is hot on the heels of  Cappie Pondexter (624 points) and Arike Ogunbowale (630 points). 

While Citron was never expected to match Clark, at one point, Bueckers was on her way to beat Clark’s 2024 tally. The Dallas rookie reached the 250-point milestone in just 13 games, while Clark needed 16 games to hit the mark. Bueckers was on track to become the third rookie in WNBA history to score 700 points and potentially beat Clark’s record. With an expanded 44-game season, the 2025 rookies had the best chance of beating Clark. 

However, Bueckers has had some fitness issues that Clark didn’t have in her first season, missing 8 games through a variety of problems. Bueckers has played 33 games and will play 36 at the maximum, while Clark played 40. When it comes to averages, the Indiana point guard still comes out on top with 19.2 points per game as opposed to Bueckers’ 18.9 and Citron’s 15.1. So it’s no question that Clark still has the best rookie season in WNBA history. The 2025 ROTY race might be won by Bueckers; she is still the silver standard in rookie lore. Who knows what could have happened if she had managed to remain fit?

And her rookie season looks like it will already be over after her injury against the Minnesota Lynx. 

Paige Bueckers may miss the season’s final three games

The Dallas Wings had 8 players listed on the injury report for Monday night’s game against the Lynx. The long list included Bueckers with a left calf concern, a change up from her illness. However, Bueckers was upgraded from probable to available against the Lynx. Despite her concerns, she had another standout performance with 17 points, 1 rebound, and two assists. However, she acknowledged that her left calf needs to be managed carefully.

“It’s something that I felt after the Atlanta game,” Bueckers told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “So just being cautious, making sure my body’s ready to go. Calves are not something you want to play with, so just being careful and cautious.”

Dallas hasn’t pulled the plug on Bueckers yet. Her season shutdown is still undecided. With the Wings’ injury crisis, they need Bueckers to be fit to avoid forfeiting, as the league requires at least 8 fit players. If Bueckers is ruled out, the team will be in a pickle. What the Wings can do, instead of completely ruling her out, is to play Bueckers at a minutes restriction. The management will need to balance the fitness of their marquee draftee and smoothly complete the season.