Paige Bueckers Reacts to Besting Caitlin Clark As Top Franchise Star in WNBA GM Survey

In this year’s WNBA GMs survey, the league’s front office leadership picked Paige Bueckers over Caitlin Clark as the top player they would want to build a franchise around. | Photo by Brandon Todd /NBAE via Getty Images

Consider Paige Bueckers flattered by WNBA front office leadership’s high opinion of her following her brilliant rookie season.

In the annual GMs survey released by the league, franchise general managers were polled on a wide variety of questions, one of which has since generated some buzz on socials: “If you were starting a franchise today and could sign any player in the WNBA, who would it be?” Last year, Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark received the lion’s share of votes. In this year’s iteration of the survey, Bueckers bested Clark with 33% of votes (Clark was tied for second with 20% alongside A’ja Wilson).

Being named the top player that team GMs would want to start a franchise with is no humble feat. Bueckers admitted she felt “blessed” by the recognition and spoke about the recent survey results during her Wings’ media availability on Wednesday:

“It’s really cool just to have that mutual respect among people who live in this space and really understand the game. And there’s so many amazing basketball players to choose from. I feel like there are so many people I would choose to start my team with, so for them to think that highly of me, I’m very grateful, very blessed,” Bueckers said.

Paige Bueckers reacts to the annual WNBA GM survey that named her as the top player to launch a franchise: “For them to think that highly of me, I’m very grateful, very blessed.” pic.twitter.com/p36TqLmpDF

— Myah Taylor (@t_myah) May 6, 2026

Fresh off winning her first national title with UConn, Bueckers enjoyed an incredible Rookie of the Year-winning campaign last year, and the Wings’ future is only getting brighter. Dallas selected Bueckers’s former Huskies teammate Azzi Fudd with the top pick in the WNBA draft last month, marking the first time since 2011 that the same collegiate program produced back-to-back No. 1 picks in the W.

As for whether Bueckers deserves the “franchise cornerstone” distinction over Clark, it’s impossible to ignore the Fever guard’s far-reaching, league-altering star power. Simply put, the WNBA would not be where it is today without Clark. Part of the reason Clark may have been valued lower by the league’s GMs is her injury history, as she played in just 13 games in 2025. If she’s able to put together a full, healthy season in her Year 3 campaign in ’26, the hypothetical franchise-starter choice between Clark and Bueckers should tip the scales more in Clark’s favor.

Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark could form the WNBA’s next all-time great rivalry

Either way, there’s plenty of respect and admiration between the two former No. 1 picks, with both Clark and Bueckers laying on the praise for one another last season.

“I’ve always been a fan of hers and her game and the way she’s been able to carry herself,” Clark said of Bueckers. “I just think she’s smooth in everything that she does. She’s efficient. She can shoot it, she can score the mid-range, she can get to the basket. She’s a three-level scorer. ... At the end of the day, she’s a winner, and those are the type of people that you want on your team.”

Bueckers returned the compliment this past year on an episode of Kylie Kelce’s podcast, Not Gonna Lie: “It’s crazy because everyone’s pitting me and Caitlin against each other for the longest time. And we’re cool, we’re friends. But again, it’s respect to the competition so we understand that,” Bueckers said.

Clark’s Fever is set to face off against Bueckers’s Wings in their 2026 WNBA season-opener on Saturday, offering a level playing field for fans—and league GMs—to see who really comes out on top. Tip-off is 1 p.m. ET at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indy.

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