Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier is coming off the best season of her career and believes the WNBA is peaking at the same time she is. Collier, fresh off a runner-up finish in the 2024 WNBA Finals, sees future prospects Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins as “generational talents” who will help her and others grow the popularity of the league.
“I think [the future of the WNBA] is so bright,” Collier said on the “Podcast P with Paul George” podcast. “Just even [Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins] are so fun to watch. Just really great talents, so bringing that obviously is going to improve the product. It was such an explosion this year of a cult following of these new rookies; those two, specifically, have the same thing… I think both of them are generational talents, honestly.”
Bueckers, 23, is projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft. The UConn senior was touted coming out of high school as the greatest prospect in women's basketball history but has been slowed down by injuries in her collegiate career.
Watkins, 19, will not turn professional for a few more years but took the college basketball world by storm as a freshman at USC, averaging 27 points per game. With the WNBA requiring draft prospects to be at least 22 years old, Watkins will likely have to play out her entire four-year career at USC before declaring. Whenever she does, it would be surprising if she is anything other than the unanimous No. 1 overall pick.
Napheesa Collier prepares for the debut of Unrivaled
With 2024 marking the beginning of the Caitlin Clark era in the WNBA, women's basketball has never been more popular. As such, Napheesa Collier is capitalizing on the moment with former teammate Breanna Stewart with the debut of the Unrivaled league in January 2025.
Unrivaled is a women's 3-on-3 professional league geared toward keeping WNBA players in shape during the offseason with an additional source of income. The league will feature six teams of six players, totaling 36 players in the league. Both Collier and Stewart will participate, along with a plethora of fellow WNBA stars.
Jewell Loyd, Aliyah Boston, Arike Ogunbowale, Kahleah Cooper and Kelsey Plum are just a handful of players committed to the league's debut season. Unrivaled will run for roughly two months before deciding a champion in March. The league is still waiting on an official decision from Clark, whom they sent an offer to for the final spot.
Bueckers has already signed with the league and has commit to play in 2026. She is ineligible to compete in the 2025 season as it will coincide with her senior season at UConn.
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