Projected No. 1 WNBA draft pick Paige Bueckers is signing a three-year deal with the 3-on-3 league Unrivaled, sources told ESPN on Sunday.
Bueckers’ first-year salary for the 10-week Unrivaled season will exceed what she would make in four years of her WNBA rookie contract, sources said. If Bueckers is the top pick in the draft, she is set to earn $78,831 in her first year, according to the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement.
Last year, Bueckers signed an NIL deal with Unrivaled, which gave her equity in the league. She didn’t play in Unrivaled while finishing her college career with the UConn Huskies, winning her first national title in the NCAA tournament championship April 6.
Bueckers averaged 19.9 points, 4.9 assists and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 53.4% from the field, including 41.9% from 3-point range, in her last season at UConn. She can be a franchise-altering player for the Dallas Wings, who have the top pick in the draft.
After Unrivaled concluded its inaugural season in March, sources told ESPN that signing Bueckers, as well as making a push for Caitlin Clark and A’ja Wilson, were top priorities as the league looked to take its next step forward.
Founded in 2023 by WNBA players Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, Unrivaled is coming off an inaugural season in which it exceeded $27 million in revenue, more than double what it projected to investors, sources said.
Instead of focusing on expansion through adding teams, the league wanted to build on what it felt made it so successful in Year 1: signing the best women’s basketball players and providing them with premier resources and financial support.
Bueckers brings another star name to a league that has prided itself in tapping into the top WNBA talent. Her multiyear deal is part of the league’s effort to build a sustainable offseason playing opportunity for WNBA players.
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