
2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year odds: Is the award still Paige Bueckers' to lose?
2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year odds: Is the award still Paige Bueckers' to lose?
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Aari McDonald made her Indiana Fever debut on Tuesday vs Mystics
Signed via the WNBA emergency hardship exemption because of Fever's piling injuries, Aari McDonald helped Indiana snap a 3-game losing streak.
The WNBA season is still in its early stages. That said, we've already seen several storylines start to form. The rivalry between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese is as strong as ever. The race to see who can stay undefeated the longest between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx is in full force. Meanwhile, the Golden State Valkyries have lost three in a row after starting the season 2-1. Can they remain in the playoff hunt through their inaugural season?
Another storyline fans were dying to see this year is Dallas Wings' rookie Paige Bueckers. After helping lead UConn to a national championship, all eyes were on the young superstar to see if she could help turn the Wings around the same way Caitlin Clark helped the Indiana Fever.
So far, it's been a struggle. Bueckers and the Wings sit at 1-7, and it has drastically impacted Bueckers' Rookie of the Year odds. Bueckers began the season as a sure-fire bet to win the award.
Here's where she stands after the first eight games of her professional career (all odds provided via BetMGM):
2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year odds:
Paige Bueckers, Dallas Wings (-800) Kiki Iriafen, Washington Mystics (+900) Sonia Citron, Washington Mystics (+1100) Janelle Salaun, Golden State Valkyries (+1600) Aneesah Morrow, Connecticut Sun (+25000) Hailey Van Lith, Chicago Sky (+25000) Saniya Rivers, Connecticut Sun (+25000) Ajsa Sivka, Chicago Sky (+25000) Aziaha James, Dallas Wings (+25000) Maddy Westbeld, Chicago Sky (+25000) Madison Scott, Dallas Wings (+25000) Aaliyah Nye, Las Vegas Aces (+25000) Makayla Timpson, Indiana Fever (+25000) Bree Hall, Indiana Fever (+25000) Sania Feagin, Los Angeles Sparks (+25000) Te-Hina Paopao, Atlanta Dream (+25000) Dalayah Daniels, Minnesota Lynx (+25000) Lucy Olsen, Washington Mystics (+25000) Rayah Marshall, Connecticut Sun (+25000) Shyanne Sellers, Atlanta Dream (+25000) Dominique Malonga, Seattle Storm (+25000) Juste Jocyte, Golden State Valkyries (+25000) Sarah Ashlee Barker, Los Angeles Sparks (+25000)
WNBA POWER RANKINGS: How the teams stack up based on their 2025 championship odds
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CBS News
37 minutes ago
- CBS News
T.J. and Megan McConnell swap jerseys before Game 1 of NBA Finals
T.J. and Megan McConnell are known to have strong sibling love and on Thursday night, they supported each other's basketball journeys from afar. The brother-sister duo showed up to their respective games wearing each others jerseys as T.J. was making his first appearance in the NBA Finals in Oklahoma City. Megan was sidelined with injury from the Phoenix Mercury's game against the Golden State Valkyries. Both T.J. and Megan were star players at Chartiers Valley before going on to play college basketball at Duquesne University and entering the NBA and WNBA, respectively. When T.J. showed up to the Paycom Center for Game 1 of the NBA Finals, he did so wearing Megan's Mercury jersey. Your brother wearing your rookie pro jersey to his first @NBA Finals game is such a flex 😎 — Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) June 5, 2025 Earlier this week, Megan signed a contract with the Mercury, becoming just one of three active duos in the NBA and WNBA of brother-sister combinations. Megan made her WNBA debut earlier this week, scoring three points during 13 minutes of playing time before she suffered a knee injury and is now expected to be sidelined for several weeks. Even though she was sidelined for Thursday night's Phoenix game, she showed up wearing T.J.'s Pacers jersey. For T.J. and the Pacers, it was a good night as Indiana stunned Oklahoma City with a 111-110 comeback win to take a 1-0 series lead in the Finals. T.J. McConnell is just the ninth player from the WPIAL or Pittsburgh's City League to play in the nearly 80 years of the NBA Finals.


Indianapolis Star
an hour ago
- Indianapolis Star
Will Caitlin Clark play for Indiana Fever against Chicago Sky, 6/7/25? Prediction, TV, injuries
The Indiana Fever try to string together consecutive victories when they visit the Chicago Sky on Saturday, June 7. Indiana (3-4) have been adjusting to life without the injured Caitlin Clark. The Fever used a hardship exception to add veteran guard Aari McDonald, who helped them snap a three-game losing streak by defeating the Washington Mystics. The Sky (2-4) started the season with four losses but have beaten the Dallas Wings twice in the past week plus. Several players have led Chicago in scoring, but Angel Reese has led in rebounding every game and Courtney Vandersloot in assists over the past three. These teams met in the season opener in Indianapolis, with the Fever winning 93-58. Clark had a triple-double in that game, which featured a dust-up between her and Reese. Chloe Peterson is your best Fever follow, and sign up for our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter. 8 p.m. ET Saturday, June 7, 2025, at United Center in Chicago. The Sky usually play home games at Wintrust Arena. Chloe Peterson, IndyStar: Fever 76-72 "Caitlin Clark is progressing well in her recovery from a quad strain, but not enough that she'll be available. And that is what could make this game a close one. "Clark had a triple-double en route to the Fever's 35-point win over the Sky in the season-opener on May 17, and Indiana looked like early contenders. Then, the Fever hit a bump in the road. Chicago started the season 0-4 before two straight wins in a home-and-home over the Dallas Wings. "I still think that, even without Clark, Indiana can leave United Center with a win. They seemed to start putting things together against the Mystics on Tuesday, finding some of their transition offense again with the help of Aari McDonald, who is with the Fever temporarily on a hardship contract. "Adding onto that, Sky center Kamilla Cardoso is day-to-day with a shoulder injury. If she's limited, that could hurt the Sky immensely." Fever: Caitlin Clark (quad) is out. Sophie Cunningham (knee) is questionable. Sky: Kamilla Cardoso (shoulder) is questionable. In four games this season, Caitlin Clark averaged 19.0 points, 9.3 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals, making 31.4% of her 3-pointers. Buy IndyStar's book celebrating Caitlin Clark's rookie season TV: CBS Watch Fever games with a free Fubo trial Radio: 93.5 and 107.5 FM in Indianapolis, with John Nolan (play-by-play) and Bria Goss (analysis). ESPN's matchup predictor gives the Fever a 58.5% chance of winning. Fever-Sky tickets start at $11 on StubHub (Season averages)
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
1 WNBA team's coaching staff is under investigation for a second time this year
UPDATE: June 5 — There are now conflicting reports on whether or not the Storm are actually under investigation or not. Our coverage on the latest updates around this developing news story can be found here. Original story follows. The Seattle Storm have gone through some cataclysmic changes over the past few years, starting with Sue Bird retiring after two decades with the franchise. Soon after, Breanna Stewart signed with the New York Liberty in free agency, and the Storm signed Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins. The last piece of their Big-Three of the 2010s, Jewell Loyd, did not last long after that, requesting a trade ahead of the 2025 season. Loyd was moved to Las Vegas after a decade of playing in Seattle, but not before accusing the Storm staff of 'bullying and harrassment,' leading to the Storm hiring an external law firm to investigate those allegations. Advertisement Shortly after the Storm announced in a statement that 'there were no findings of policy violations or any discrimination, harassment, or bullying,' Loyd requested the trade. She recently said on a podcast that at the time, she told her agent to send her anywhere that would take her and that 'it couldn't get worse.' That part of the story seemed to have concluded when Loyd was traded to Las Vegas, and it appeared both parties were ready to move on. Yet another chapter opens this week as it's been announced and confirmed that the Storm will undergo another investigation into their coaching practices, per WNBA insider Khristina Williams. The news comes on the same day that Storm player Li Yueru, an international player from China, requested a trade out of Seattle. The two news bits may be connected, but they also may not be. There is also some reporting that Yueru and her representation's request to move her from Seattle is more a request from the Chinese National Team. Yueru is staying in the United States this WNBA season as opposed to playing for China, and apparently, the federation expected her to have a bigger role on the Storm if she were not going to be reporting for her international team duties, according to The Next and Forbes contributor Roberta F. Rodrigues: It's not uncommon for international federations to have high expectations of their star players, either. The French National Team is another team known for wanting long-term commitments from their players, a reason why Gabby Williams did not come to the WNBA last season before the Olympics and why Marine Johannes did not play at all in 2024. So reports that the Chinese federation wants their star player to get more run in the WNBA if she is going to be there are not totally unexpected or outside of the realm of possibility. Advertisement It's also natural to wonder if the two reports are connected, since it is unusual to request a trade seven games into a season. Even in the shorter WNBA season, that's still fairly quick, given the trade deadline isn't until Aug. 7. As of this story's original publishing time, no one on Seattle's current roster has made any sort of comment about the current investigation, or really about Loyd's departure. But this new investigation is specifically being carried out by the WNBA and league security, per Williams's report, so while it may be connected to what was going on last year, or it could be something new, but the big difference is that the league is investigating them, not a law firm the team hired itself. This is not the first time the WNBA has investigated teams, and it also has an ongoing investigation into the Las Vegas Aces right now that has been going on since last season, so it's entirely possible this will not be wrapped up quickly, either.