NEW YORK — Paige Bueckers will receive roughly the same salary that Caitlin Clark got last year as the top pick in the WNBA draft as player salaries continue to be a topic of conversation.
As the presumptive No. 1 pick in Monday's WNBA draft, Bueckers' deal will be worth just over $78,000 in base salary. Talks between the league and players union are ongoing about a deal when the current collective bargaining agreement expires next season.
Players have indicated there could be a lockout if their salary demands aren't meet. The spotlight on WNBA player salaries got brighter following Clark's and Angel Reese's much talked about rookie earnings last season.
WNBA Players Union vice president Napheesa Collier has said that ''no one wants'' a lockout but the players are ''prepared for any possibility right now.''
''We get such a small percentage of revenue share right now that affects our salary,'' she said last month on the ''We Need to Talk'' TV show. ''We're asking for a bigger cut of that, like more equitable to what the men's revenue share is.''
Salaries are expected to grow exponentially in the new CBA with the 11-year media rights deal the WNBA signed last July that will bring in at least $200 million a year. That deal goes into effect next year.
How much of a salary increase the players get is the question, though that won't change this year's rookie contracts.
Bueckers has one of the top name, image and likeness (NIL) valuations for women's basketball players over the last few years and those deals are expected to carry over into her pro career. Bueckers already has deals with Nike, Gatorade, Bose, Verizon, Dunkin' and her portfolio is expected to grow.
