No. 1 draft pick Paige Bueckers of the Dallas Wings and two members of the Washington Mystics headlined the 2025 WNBA All-Rookie team, announced Monday.
Bueckers went first overall to Dallas following a decorated career at UConn that included a national championship this past April. In her debut season, Bueckers averaged 19.2 points — ranking fifth in the league — plus 5.4 assists and 3.9 rebounds over 36 games (all starts).
She was joined on the team by Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen of the Mystics, Dominique Malonga of the Seattle Storm and Janelle Salaun of the expansion Golden State Valkyries.
Washington collected the third, fourth and sixth overall picks in the draft and spent them on Citron, Iriafen and Georgia Amoore, respectively. Amoore suffered an ACL injury during training camp and missed the season, but Citron and Iriafen cemented themselves as the foundation of Washington’s young core.
Citron averaged 14.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists while starting all 44 games; she finished runner-up to Bueckers in Rookie of the Year voting. Iriafen posted 13.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, also making all 44 starts.
Bueckers, Citron and Iriafen were all voted All-Stars in their rookie campaigns.
Malonga, the second overall draft pick, averaged 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds in 42 games off the bench for Seattle. She finished fourth in Sixth Player of the Year Award balloting.
Salaun was not a draft pick, instead signing a training camp contract with Golden State after playing professionally in her native France as well as Italy for a number of years. Salaun quickly carved out a role for the first-year franchise and put up 11.3 points and 5.1 rebounds over 36 games (33 starts).
–Field Level Media
