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Good morning! Don’t drop a trophy today.
Draft Days: The unique nexus of last night’s WNBA Draft
As expected, Paige Bueckers went No. 1 in last night’s WNBA Draft to the Dallas Wings. The bona fide superstar in this class, Bueckers has been destined for this since this time last year, if not longer. She earned the honor just over a week after winning a national title.Â
But this year’s draft was also a harbinger of a new women’s hoops era. A big layer here:Â
- As Sabreena Merchant highlighted, the current WNBA collective bargaining agreement is woefully out-of-date thanks to the sport’s popularity bump. See: Bueckers signing with Unrivaled to make more money for 10 weeks of service than she will make over the entire life of her first WNBA contract. Thus, college stars like Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles chose to stay in college for another year, make beaucoup NIL dollars and enter the league when the new CBA kicks in next year. It’s just good business for now.
- This means Bueckers, who had run out of eligibility, feels like the only big guarantee here. Not that the rest of the picks — which you can see here — aren’t major talents….
