Top draft pick Paige Bueckers headlines the newly-named 2025 All-Rookie group, which also features two Washington Mystics first-year standouts.
Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers and a pair of Washington Mystics appeared on the 2025 WNBA’s All-Rookie Team, which was released with a French twist on Monday.
The feted freshman five is the latest list of honorees unveiled by the league: the top pick and Rookie of the Year Bueckers leads the way next to the DC duo Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen while French imports Dominique Malonga (Seattle) and Janelle Salaun (Golden State) round things out.
Bueckers, the latest University of Connecticut alumna to take home the top first-year honor, lived up to the hype as the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft despite Dallas’ dreary final ledger: she ended this season as the rookie leader in points (19.2) and assists (5.4), both of which ranked in the top 10 among all WNBA freshman seasons.
Bueckers also earned the third-best total scoring season in league history (692) for rookies behind only the touted maiden voyages of Caitlin Clark and Seimone Augustus. She’s also the first member of the Wings to reach the All-Rookie Team since 2021, when fellow top selection Charli Collier earned the nod.
The three women chosen immediately after Bueckers were also invited to the All-Rookie team. Despite working behind tenured All-Star Nneka Ogwumike, the teenage sensation Malonga managed to find a groove after the mid-summer break: from July 24 onward, Malonga averaged 12 points and 6.8 rebounds off the bench and helped Seattle secure one of the last spots on the playoff bracket. Malonga also shot just over 55 percent from the field to lead all rookies who played a minimum of 300 minutes.
Fellow top four picks Citron and Iriafen, respectively hailing from Notre Dame and USC, were also on the list after the Mystics chose them back-to-back. Both were invited to the WNBA All-Star Game alongside Bueckers, with Citron leading all first-year participants in three-pointers (81) and Iriafen at the top in total rebounds (376). This marks the third consecutive season where one team has produced multiple All-Rookie selections, following the Minnesota Lynx (Dorka Juhasz, Diamond Miller) and Chicago Sky (Kamilla Cardoso, Angel Reese).
Rounding out the five is Salaun, a rookie in name only after playing professionally in France and Italy while also earning a silver medal with Malonga at the Paris Olympics. Salaun signed a training camp contract with the expansion Golden State Valkyries and went on to become a valued member of the starting five to the tune of 11.3-point and 5.1-rebound averages. Salaun and Malonga become the first French reps to appear on the All-Rookie team.
As the playoffs wind down, the awards continue to flow out on the WNBA circuit. The 2025 All-Defensive First and Second Teams will unveiled on Wednesday, shortly before the Indiana Fever and Las Vegas Aces engage in their winner-take-all semifinal finale.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
