Will Paige Bueckers have the same impact on the WNBA as Caitlin Clark?

In a humorous repeat of a year ago, Cheryl Reeve was expecting this.

“I was waiting for the question,” said Reeve, head coach and president of basketball operations for the Lynx. “It’s obligatory, I’m sure.”

The WNBA draft is Monday night in New York, the big stage on which former Hopkins and UConn star guard Paige Bueckers will be announced as the top overall pick, by the Dallas Wings. A year ago the draft began with game-changing Iowa guard Caitlin Clark going first, to Indianapolis.

And so the obligatory question: What would it take for the Lynx, slated for the 11th pick, to move up and get the local hero?

“Same answer I had for Caitlin,” Reeve said.

In other words: Not possible.

“We do our due diligence and we have reached out to Dallas, and Dallas has indicated they are not moving No. 1,” Reeve said. “But I understand the question. I had to explain it to my son, too.”

The two guards are similar in the sense that both were the leaders of very good teams, both come from the Midwest. Experts believe Bueckers’ transition to the pro game will be as successful as Clark’s was last season. Both are riding — and pushing — the rising tide of interest in women’s basketball.

“Much like last year, when we thought Caitlin Clark’s game was going to translate right away — and for the most part it did — Paige’s game is going to translate right away." ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo said. “It’s going to be fun to watch, because I expect a similar efficiency from her at the pro level.”

But they are different players.

“They are very different in the way they play,” Lobo said. “They are both lead guards, they are both incredibly popular athletes. But once they get on the floor they play differently. Just as impactfully, however.”

Clark can push the pace of a game to an amazing level. The range on her three-point shot is impressive. She scored more in college. But then, she played on very good Iowa teams but teams not as deep and star-studded as Bueckers played on at UConn, so she likely had to hunt her shot more.

Bueckers’ calling card is her striking efficiency. While pushing the Huskies to a national championship Bueckers scored 19.9 points a game, hit 53.1% of her shots overall, 41.9% of her three-pointers and came two misses from being a 90% free-throw shooter.

“It’s off the charts,” Reeve said of Bueckers’ efficiency. “No matter what part of the game, it’s off the charts analytically. Three levels [scoring]. Passing. A connection with her teammates from a point guard position. Her ability to gauge what needs to happen, who needs to have it. The whole package.”

In that sense Bueckers reminds Reeve of Hall of Famer Lindsay Whalen, retelling the story of how important Whalen was to Seimone Augustus during the Lynx’s title era. How Whalen knew when she needed to get Augustus going, knew when to stick with her when Augustus was having a difficult game.

“That’s just one example,” Reeve said. “It’s having a pulse on her teammates. On the game. Paige certainly has that.”

Lobo said Bueckers looked like a pro in the making form the moment she stepped onto the UConn campus and won national player of the year honors as a freshman.

“She can get to the spots on the floor that she wants to get to,” Lobo said. “Whether its off screes or in open space. She can get to her shots, she can score. And she did it throughout her career at an efficiency we really have seen prior to that. She has size, she’s gotten stronger. She’s always been elite in terms of the way she thinks the game. She’s simply ready.”

Last year Clark was part of a deep WNBA draft class that included Angel Reese, Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson. This year?

“Paige is going to be more of a stand-alone,” Reeve said. “I don’t think there’s a lot of company for her like there was around Caitlin. I don’t think there’ s anybody close to making the impact [this season] that she will make on the Dallas franchise.”