The brand new WNBA season begins on Friday, Might 16, and listed here are the highest Rookie of the Yr candidates to observe all through the season.
Final season, Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark gained the Rookie of the Yr award after receiving 66 out of 67 first place votes from a panel of sports activities media.
Paige Bueckers
Guard Paige Bueckers has had a formidable yr in 2025, main the UConn Huskies to their first Nationwide Championship since 2016, the yr Breanna Stewart was drafted first general by the Seattle Storm.
Recognized for her flashy performs as a degree guard, Bueckers brings versatility, effectivity, and a powerful team-oriented method to the Dallas Wings, who missed the playoffs final season.
Bueckers is anticipated to be the highest contender for this yr’s Rookie of the Yr award, based mostly on her accolades coming in.
“I feel Paige Bueckers is the favourite for Rookie of the Yr,” ESPN lead analyst Rebecca Lobo stated Wednesday.
French Rookies Dominique Malonga, Monique Akoa Makani
A 19-year-old French phenom, Dominique Malonga, was chosen at second general on this yr’s draft by the Seattle Storm. She is understood for bringing versatility and excelling on the pick-and-roll and was part of the French Ladies’s nationwide staff that gained silver on the Paris Olympics final summer time.
Malonga will get a chance to study from frontcourt gamers comparable to Nneka Ogwumike and Ezi Magbegor in Seattle.
“A lot generally may be depending on the minutes that you simply’re going to get,” Lobo stated. “Dominique Malonga clearly is an unbelievable expertise out in Seattle. She’s not going to go away the staff for the European championship. She’s going to be there your complete season. What sort of minutes will she get? How prepared is she going to be instantly as a result of, after all, she has elite publish gamers forward of her with Ezi and Nneka.”
Though she will not be the Rookie of the Yr favourite, it’s value mentioning, French guard Monique Akoa Makani has made the roster for the Phoenix Mercury. She has began within the staff’s first preseason sport as a degree guard and head coach Nate Tibbetts has confidence in her potential.
With the expansion of basketball in France, Malonga and Akoa Makani might be two of the gamers to make notable impression on their respective groups.
Sonia Citron
Guard Sonia Citron, who was chosen third general out of Notre Dame on this yr’s draft, might be one of many key gamers because the Washington Mystics head into rebuild mode. Particularly with guard Georgia Amoore out for the season as a consequence of a torn ACL harm, Citron will get her alternatives.
“Sonia Citron in Washington I feel goes to have a whole lot of alternative and positively appears able to be an impactful professional instantly,” Lobo stated. “I feel she might have actually good numbers her rookie yr due to what Washington will need her to do.”
Darkish Horse Candidate: Te-hina Paopao
In the course of the 2025 WNBA Draft, Te-Hina Paopao was not chosen within the first spherical and was finally picked 18th general by the Atlanta Dream within the second spherical. Since then, Paopao has demonstrated her confidence on the courtroom and has expressed her love for town of Atlanta.
Veteran guard Shatori Walker Kimbrough spoke extremely of Paopao’s efficiency in opposition to the Indiana Fever within the Dream’s remaining sport of the preseason on Saturday. Paopao scored 14 factors and had a discipline objective share of 83.3 from the sector.
“She’s not a rookie,” Walker Kimbrough stated. “Her poise and her confidence — she doesn’t give rookie in any respect. She’s been very constant in coaching camp. So, I’m not stunned as a result of I’ve seen it each single day.”
Smesko is impressed with the defensive depth Paopao dropped at the Dream all through the offseason regardless of the loss to the Indiana Fever on Might 10.
“She actually competed on the defensive finish,” Smesko stated. “We problem her on that facet, and she or he rose to the event. Like I stated, she’s fearless. She goes in there, she’s prepared, and she or he’s performed in huge as video games as there are within the faculty sport, so this does not hassle her. She’s enthusiastic about this chance, and she or he’s taking advantage of it.”
