Paige Bueckers goes first overall after signing stunning deal with rival league that dwarfs entire $350,000 WNBA rookie contract
It was always Bueckers.
On Monday evening, the Dallas Wings selected Paige Bueckers with the No. 1 overall pick of the WNBA draft, that comes on the heels of Bueckers signing a three-year deal with the 3-on-3 Unrivaled league, .
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"Projected No. 1 overall WNBA draft pick Paige Bueckers is signing a three-year deal with the 3-on-3 league Unrivaled," ESPN's Kendra Andrews wrote on X the day before the draft.
One of the most enticing aspects of Unrivaled is the lucrative contracts they hand out.
Bueckers' first-year salary for the 10-week Unrivaled season will exceed what she would make in four years of her WNBA rookie contract with the Wings, per ESPN.
As the top pick, she will earn just $78,831 in her first year.
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Bueckers of course will still be playing in the WNBA, she is just setting herself up for a larger payday once the season ends and the Unrivaled campaign begins.
Last year the league ran for eight weeks and was played in Miami.
Unrivaled was founded by Olympians and basketball stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart,
It was created to give players a domestic opportunity to compete during the offseason.
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Since the WNBA's first season in 1997, most athletes have headed abroad to play in the offseason, primarily because they needed to supplement their income and keep playing competitively.
The arrival of Unrivaled has been welcomed by players as not only is it played in the US but compensates players well, with an average salary of $222,222.
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The league, which was met with skepticism when it was first announced, enjoyed a successful first season.
When it debuted in January this year, Unrivaled averaged 313,000 viewers in its opening game between Mist Basketball Club and Lunar Owls Basketball Club.
It's second ever game between Rhyne Howard’s Vinyl Basketball Club and Chelsea Gray’s Rose Basketball Club averaged 311,000 viewers.
Both games were the most-watched women’s basketball games ever to air on TNT Sports at the time.
According to , the opening games outpaced last year’s average WNBA regular-season game on cable by 50 percent, excluding games involving Caitlin Clark.
The arrival of Bueckers will only help to raise the profile of the league even more.
Throwback to when Caitlin Clark outmatched Paige Bueckers in the 2024 Final Four in first glimpse at future of the WNBA superstar
The 23-year-old is coming off a national championship season after she led the UConn Huskies to their 13th national title in program history.
And now she is the number one overall pick.
It has been a busy year of basketball for Bueckers, and it's only just begun.
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