What do WNBA GMs think about Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers? Our anonymous poll

June 02, 2024

The 2023 WNBA Draft is a few days in the rearview mirror, with the basketball world looking forward to the upcoming WNBA season and 2024 draft. On Wednesday, The Athletic unveiled its first edition of a 2024 WNBA draft big board, led by Iowa’s Caitlin Clark.

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But to further dive into what next year’s draft could bring, four WNBA general managers, an assistant general manager and one additional front-office executive shared their thoughts with The Athletic on some of the top names in the class. They were granted anonymity to speak openly, as they’re not allowed to publicly speak about potential draftees. Most of these conversations occurred before the most recent NCAA Tournament. They shared their thoughts on what they’ve seen and what they might want to see from a player next season.

Check back Friday for more of their thoughts on players like Angel Reese, Charisma Osborne and Elizabeth Kitley.

Players are listed in alphabetical order.

2022-23 stats: 16.3 PPG | 4.9 APG | 34.5 percent 3-point FG | 2.8 TOV

• “She has shown how much better Virginia Tech is with her at the point and her playing so well. It’s her leadership skills. She makes everyone on the floor better. She can score. She can get to the rim. She can get the ball to the bigs. She’s very strong, very physical. To me, she and Caitlin Clark are the two best lead guards in that class.”

• “For her, it’s a lot about continuing to just manage the game, a lot of these intangible point guard things. To be able to make decisions late in games, watching how she does in those moments, being able to take care of the ball at a really high level if you’re talking about aiming to possibly be a true point guard in the league. … That ability to shoot off the dribble, to create a ton of space, to get into a stepback 3. And she can score from inside the arc, too. You talk about the speed, the shooting ability. She’s got all that there to keep a defense honest. So now it’s all about harnessing that and being able to squeeze every little bit out of that. Because still at her size, a lot of it also comes down to the decisions you make.”

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2022-23 stats: 14.7 PPG | 4.3 APG | 33.9 percent 3-point FG

• “She’s got a quality to her of she likes taking big shots. So there’s a fearlessness with that aspect of her game. But again, at her size, right now it’s difficult to see her as someone that’s breaking people down one-on-one at the next level. So she’s been a volume jump shooter, and she can do that to an extent. But right now, is that alone gonna get you on a roster and also guarantee you a role in the rotation?”

2022-23 stats: 15.1 PPG | 9.6 RPG | 3.5 BLK | 48.6 percent FG

• “Adding strength and go-to moves at the elbow and the block. She does a lot of things well, but she needs a couple of go-to scoring moves.”

• “It’s the physicality, to me, for Brink. Is she going to be able to hold up? If she goes to the right system, she could be a force. If she goes to a five-out, up-and-down-the-court kind of system, I think she can be really good. If she ends up in some place where they want to play their posts down on the block with their backs to the basket and defend the same way, that’s going to be a little bit of a different story for her.”

• “I think she might have been a top-three pick if she came out this year. She’s another one that I wish you would just get over college and come on out. She needs to continue to get strong, continue to add some muscle and some strength to her game, but wow, top prospect.”

• “Speaking from a next-level perspective, to me, she’s a center. But if her outside shot continues to develop — naturally, with a lot of these players, that’s something we’re gonna be watching — that will obviously make it easier for her to maybe play next to another big at the next level. And fouling. To be able to consistently play longer stretches, to maximize your own availability. I think those are really the big things for her.”

2022-23: Did not play due to injury

• “Paige just needs to play. Strength, obviously. Consistency. We just need to see a lot more of (her).”

• “Health. Can she stay healthy? I have no inside-baseball (information) on this, but I would think she’s more likely than not probably to go back (to UConn for the 2025 season). I think she does fairly well on the NIL front, and if she can go back there and get an extra degree and reach that legacy status that she went there to be a part of, then why not? If you said, ‘Hey, do you think she’ll be in the draft next year right now?’ I would say no.”

• “Get healthy — that’s going to be the red flag on her. She has had way too many injuries. And I think that’s going to be the same thing with Azzi Fudd. What’s the deal? You can’t stay healthy; I can’t invest in you. Paige should be on top. She should be fighting Caitlin Clark for the No. 1 pick. But she’s not because of her constant health and injury issues. Show us you can last — not even a year; show us you can last six months without getting injured.”

• “I just wanna see her get healthy and be able to compete. She’s given us some stuff that we like; you just want it to manifest into a full season where she’s healthy and where she competes against other players who have grown into their games.”

2022-23 stats: 9.8 PPG | 8.5 RPG| 1.9 BLK | 55.9 percent FG

• “It can go a lot of ways. She has good hands. She can really move. She’s a WNBA player. How much she plays is really all on her development and how she develops her 15-footer, 17-footer, and how she continues to defend without fouling, and how she runs and plays in the pick-and-roll. That’s gonna be the most important key because right now our game is predicated on the pick-and-roll, and so if she can guard in pick-and-rolls, then I think her future is bright.”

Is it better to be on South Carolina’s bench than a starter somewhere else?

Just ask Raven Johnson, Bree Hall, Kamilla Cardoso and Laeticia Amihere. All four are former five-star recruits. One is 6-7. Another is an Olympian.

✍️ @ChantelJennings https://t.co/codUDLcinu pic.twitter.com/eOgLapvqZm

— The Athletic WBB (@TheAthleticWBB) March 30, 2023

• “It’s hard not to notice Cardoso’s size and the way she can impact the game right around the basket on both sides of the floor.”

• “Carrying that extra, I guess you can say, burden of responsibility, just seeing how she does (next season at South Carolina) is important. Offensively, I think adding to her low-post game, just to continue to be strong with your favorite moves and your counters to that. And then defensively, continue to get reps and show that you can adjust in different coverages and adjust when you have to defend further out from the paint as well.”

2022-23 stats: 27.8 PPG | 8.6 APG | 7.1 RPG | 38.9 percent 3-point FG

• “Just continuing to do what she does right now. Like, if she still is doing this, then she’s just continuing to show herself as the best player in the country.”

• “Does she need to gain weight? It can’t hurt, but that just comes in time. … Your body changes over time. And there’s also a benefit to being that slippery sometimes, you know what I mean? When you’re tiny, people can’t grab you.”

• “I’d like her to tell everyone she won’t come anywhere but (redacted team).”

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• “Some of the games that Clark’s had this year indicate to us that she’s one of the best guards we’ve ever seen. I do know what I’d like to see from Caitlin: I’d like to see her come out next year. I don’t want her to stay in college another year. I want her to say, ‘Hey, I’m tired of college. I’m going to go to the pros.’”

• “She’s so dominant in the Big Ten, she’s so dominant in college, so you would love to see her play against these quick and athletic guards because she’s one of those players where you can’t relax. Even though she’s not as fast as everybody or as quick as everybody, you just can’t relax, and I think that’s what makes the best pros.”

• “Nothing, honestly. She’s been doing this since her freshman year. If anything, it’s nice to see that the turnovers continue to pare down a little bit, which has been happening. So, obviously, there has been an awareness to that. And she’s got to guard people, you know. That’s gonna be something that follows her to the next level.”

2022-23 stats: 16.6 PPG | 9.0 RPG | 1.1 BLK | 58.9 percent FG

• “She could continue to improve her outside game and her handle. And also, her want for the ball in clutch situations. She’s good enough to take over games at certain points, but she has to have hunger to be able to do that.”

• “She’s slightly undersized. I would watch her for another year. I think she took a big step forward this year. I think she’s definitely a WNBA player. I just don’t know to what level.”

• “I really like her. She needs to keep working on her face-up game. Keep extending her range.”

• “With her size, with her skill set, to me that’s not gonna be her primary role as just this low-post hub scorer. So she can shoot the midrange. Can she extend that out over the course of the offseason? That’d be something you’d like to see. Because then on top of that, can she attack in straight lines from the perimeter to then make decisions? For her, I think it’s a lot through the lens of just what is her actual pro role offensively and how valuable will that end up being?”

2022-23 stats: 11.3 PPG | 6.6 RPG | 53.5 percent FG

• “I think a big positive we’ve seen (at UConn) is they’ve really worked … hard on the messaging and the consistency of they want her to shoot when she’s open. And as simple as that sounds, it is really significant if a player can already be at that point, because what can be difficult with someone who isn’t a developed 3-point shooter is that in college, if they don’t shoot them (and) also if they’re still very hesitant, then they kind of remain that way for three or four years. Then that habit only builds over time, and it can be more difficult to undo that.”

(Photo of Paige Bueckers: David Butler II / USA Today)

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