NCAA champion guard and UConn star Paige Bueckers sent shockwaves before the WNBA Draft by reportedly signing a three-year deal with the Unrivaled league.
Bueckers Joins List of Star Talent Helping the Unrivaled League Grow
A night before the WNBA Draft is set to take place, projected top pick Bueckers is making a huge splash by signing with the 3-on-3 Unrivaled league.
According to reporting from Kendra Andrews of ESPN, the deal is for three years. Bueckers’ signing guarantees that she will make more money with Unrivaled than her rookie salary – according to the WNBA collective bargaining agreement, if Bueckers is chosen by the Dallas Wings, who hold the number one pick, she’s set to earn $78,831 in her first year.
The back-ended deal with the WNBA would net her $348,198 over the course of four years, according to data from Spotrac.
Bueckers isn’t a stranger to Unrivaled — she previously signed a name, image, and likeness deal with the league founded by WNBA veterans Naphessa Collier and Breanna Stewart in 2023. That deal gave her equity in the league, which reportedly banked $27 million in revenue during their first season, spending $7 million on salaries for the 36 founding players.
She didn’t play in their inaugural season as it overlapped with her final season at UConn under coach Geno Auriemma.
Unrivaled had targeted Bueckers as a priority for their plans for Year 2, which include making proposals to other incoming rookies as well as other WNBA stars and international players — that includes Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark (who rebuffed an earlier offer) and Las Vegas Aces star forward A’ja Wilson.
According to Front Office Sports, the league is looking to grow further by playing games in two other cities next season (the inaugural season’s games were in Miami).
The three-time All-American is coming off of a stellar collegiate career as a member of the Lady Huskies, who won the NCAA Women’s Championship last week against the University of South Carolina Gamecocks.
Bueckers averaged 19.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.9 assists, while shooting 53.4% from the field in her final season, adding a solid shooting percentage of 41.9% from beyond the three-point line.
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Being chosen by the Dallas Wings would pair the 6-foot guard with perennial WNBA All-Star Arike Ogunbowale as the cornerstones for a franchise that’s looking to rebuild and take the next step forward to being a WNBA powerhouse.
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