Paige Bueckers is going to win Rookie of the Year ... right?
If you believe the betting odds, she's a lock for the award right now. DraftKings Sportsbook has Bueckers as the favorite at -1000, with Kiki Iriafen at +1000 and Sonia Citron at +1500. For you non-bettors out there, that means that if I placed a $10 bet on Bueckers to win ROTY right now, I would profit exactly $1 if she wins. That's a pretty bad return on investment, and a sign that the people setting those odds feel like a Bueckers win is fairly certain.
But nothing is over until it's over, and on Sunday, we got a chance to see Bueckers go head-to-head with her top two rookie competitors.
And you know what?
Bueckers wasn't the best rookie on the floor. Not for the 40 minutes (plus overtime) of this particular game, at least.
It might be a long shot to see Iriafen and Citron actually win ROTY, considering the narrative built around Bueckers and her own impressive play, but we can't count either player out yet.
Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen have strong Rookie of the Year cases
The Mystics and Wings played one of the best games of the WNBA season on Sunday, with Washington winning 91-88 in overtime.
Paige Bueckers was very good in the loss, scoring 20 points on 7-for-17 shooting to go along with nine rebounds and seven assists. She only turned the ball over three times, and was comfortable taking a bit of a backseat in scoring as Arike Ogunbowale had a fairly good night from the floor.
However, for as good as Bueckers looked, there's no denying that Sonia Citron was better on Sunday.
The rookie out of Notre Dame scored 27 points to lead the Mystics and added 11 rebounds as well. She was 4-for-7 from 3-point range and recorded two steals and one block.
14 games into her WNBA career, Citron has yet to finish a game with under 10 points. I had high hopes for her entering the WNBA, projecting her to wind up as an elite 3-and-D wing, but at this point, I'm thinking I was too low on her. Citron is more than a spot-up shooter. She's someone who might not be able to be the lead scorer on a contender, but she could easily be the second-best player on a very good team.
As for Iriafen, Sunday saw her post a well-rounded stat line with 19 points, seven rebounds, six assists ... and five steals. For a player averaging under one steal per game, her absolute barrage of takeaways in this game was a pleasant surprise.
Both of these players have shown they belong in the WNBA and that they belong in the Rookie of the Year race. A head-to-head win in mid-June isn't going to change the minds of any voters, but the individual play of both players should at least keep the ROTY discussion open. Bueckers has been stellar, but you never know when a player will hit the rookie wall.
The same could be said for Iriafen and Citron, of course. One or both could hit a slow patch, allowing Bueckers to run away with the award.
But we aren't even halfway done with this season. In the words of George Jones, "the race is on," and while Bueckers has the lead, the Mystics duo has opportunities still to catch up.