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WNBA

The 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year Race is getting Intense

Brandon Ellis photo
By Brandon Ellis · 2 min read
WNBA Rookie of the Year Race
Jun 22, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Mystics guard Sonia Citron (22) steals the ball from Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) in the second half at Entertainment & Sports Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Before the 2025 WNBA Season, everyone thought Paige Bueckers would win the Rookie of the Year award in a runaway. But Mystics guard Sonia Citron is making this ROY race a bit more interesting than expected. To be clear, Bueckers is still the favorite to win the award currently, if you look at all of the sportsbooks, but Citron has closed the gap in the race and will continue to make things interesting if Bueckers misses more action or has any lapse in performance let’s look at both players stats to see how this Rookie of the Year Race is becoming more compelling. 

Bueckers vs Citron 2025 Season so far for the Rookie of the Year Race

Bueckers is averaging 18.4 points per game, 4.4 rebounds per game, 5.8 assists per game, and 1.8 steals per game in 13 games played so far. Bueckers has missed some time thanks to a couple of injuries, including the game against the Mystics over the weekend, due to a knee issue. But there’s no doubt when Bueckers is getting on the court, she has been the best rookie on the court to this point, but Citron has given her a run for her money so far as well. 

Citron has averaged 15.1 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game, 2.1 assists per game, and 1.2 steals per game this season. The efficiencies for Citron are better than Bueckers especially from the three-point range this season, with Citron at 37.2% and Bueckers at 33.3%. But the writers look at the counting stats and some of the flashy plays when giving the award at the end of the season, so it will probably be Bueckers winning the award unless injury plays a role. 

Final Thoughts

Both Bueckers and Citron have been excellent for their respective franchises this season as rookies, and the Rookie of the Year race will probably go down to the wire. Bueckers and Citron will both have great careers in the long run, but my prediction at the beginning of the season was Paige Bueckers winning Rookie of the Year, and even though Sonia Citron has been impressive, I’m sticking to my pick of Bueckers winning Rookie of the Year. There are plenty of WNBA stories on Total Apex Sports. 

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