Paige Bueckers is Outplaying Caitlin Clark and the WNBA Has No Plan for That originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Despite the undeniable talents of Napheesa Collier, A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Alyssa Thomas, and Arike Ogunbowale, just to name a few, the WNBA league offices have put all of their eggs in the Caitlin Clark basket.
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Granted, she was perhaps the best prospect to enter the league since Candace Parker in 2008, although she has quickly been surpassed.
You heard that right. By basically every individual metric, Dallas Wings’ centerpiece Paige Bueckers is a better all-around player.
Picked first overall out of UConn, Bueckers is an elite playmaker and ball-handler who is simply more effective on the court than Clark ever has been, and it’s not even close.
In her rookie season, Bueckers is averaging more points and steals while shooting better both from deep and from the floor. In fact, Clark’s 27.9 percent mark from deep is a far cry from the Stephen Curry comparisons she got in college.
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Perhaps most glaring is Clark’s pathetic 1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio, compared to Bueckers’ mark of 2.6 assists for every turnover.
None of this is a knock on Clark. She is an excellent volume scorer and seems to be a solid floor general, despite the lack of efficiency. However, the WNBA made her the face of the league before she even played a single game, and they are quickly being proven wrong in their investment.
While the Fever are having a better season than the Wings, Bueckers is expected to continue to improve. Clark, on the other hand, has hit a wall and doesn’t seem poised to take any sort of leap in the near future. It’s hard to imagine her making her second All-WNBA First Team, although her fame and notoriety might propel her, even if her stats don’t.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 1, 2025, where it first appeared.
