Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers had a sensational first year in the WNBA. The first overall pick of the 2025 WNBA Draft averaged 19.2 PPG, 5.4 APG, 3.9 RPG, and 1.6 SPG, which led her to being named the Rookie of the Year, making the All-Star Game as a starter, and then being named to the All-WNBA Second Team.
Throughout the year, she faced comparisons to Indiana Fever star and rival Caitlin Clark, who also had a fantastic rookie season in 2024, but she struggled with injuries in 2025 and only played in 13 games. She’s still the most recognizable name in the sport by far, but people are giving her some incredibly lofty expectations.
Recently, Wings free agent center Luisa Geiselsoder appeared on “The Journey” podcast, where she easily took Bueckers over Clark when asked to pick between the two. In typical fashion, that sparked debate in the comments, with one commenter saying “Caitlin Clark is revolutionizing women’s basketball right now. Paige Bueckers is extremely good but without ‘killer instinct’.”
Geiselsoder clapped back at that, responding, “Caitlin Clark is definitely an important part of the revolution in women’s basketball. Definitely not the only one though…. Paige Bueckers has a ‘killer instinct’ I can confirm 100% from live experience. :)”
Bueckers and Clark have been rivals going back to high school, with Bueckers starring in the Minnesota circuit, and Clark thriving in Iowa. The midwest scene allowed them to go against each other a lot, and that rivalry carried over to college, and now the WNBA.
There are a lot of similarities between the two stars, even down to them being robbed of a unanimous Rookie of the Year win by a few votes for no reason, and their careers will likely always be intertwined somehow.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) and Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) hug Sunday, July 13, 2025, ahead of the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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The Dallas Wings have 10 pending free agents this offseason, and none are bigger than four-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale. However, Geiselsoder is one of the players that may be one of the harder players to make a decision on.
2025 was her first official season in the WNBA after being a second-round pick by the Wings in 2020, and she was just okay, averaging 6.9 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 1.6 APG in her 28 appearances. It’s no secret that the Wings want to upgrade their center position, and with Geiselsoder and Li Yueru both scheduled to be free agents, the Wings need to add a body there.
Dallas will have a chance to upgrade the position in the 2026 WNBA Draft, but it’s likely that they bring back one of Yueru or Geiselsoder. They gave up two draft picks to trade for Yueru midseason, so she’s probably the more likely of the two to be brought back.
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