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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Blake Silverman

WNBA Commissioner Responds to Paige Bueckers's Larger Contract With Unrivaled

WNBA commissioner Engelbert talks to the media before the 2025 WNBA Draft at The Shed at Hudson Yards. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

On the eve of the 2025 WNBA draft, news broke that former UConn star guard and likely No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers agreed to a three-year contract to join Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 women's basketball league that recently completed its inaugural season. She's set to make $350,000 in her first year with Unrivaled, per Front Office Sports' Annie Costabile.

Bueckers's first-year salary in Unrivaled would pay her slightly more than the entire four-year rookie-scale contract she'll be able to sign as the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft. A big caveat there, though, is the WNBA is currently in negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) as the current deal is set to expire after the 2025 season. A top agenda item for the new CBA is certainly player salaries—so Bueckers could have a new WNBA salary after her rookie season.

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