Paige Bueckers May no Longer Be a Lock for WNBA's Rookie of the Year

ESPN's Alexa Philippou made some interesting points when writing about the notable players and storylines through the first week of action.

"Heading into the season, Paige Bueckers was the unanimous prediction for rookie of the year," Philippou wrote, before naming Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen of the Washington Mystics as two fellow rookies who could give Bueckers a run for her money in the RoY race.

"Iriafen has dominated the glass (30 rebounds) and Citron has been responsible for some clutch play against both the Atlanta Dream and Connecticut Sun. ... The three are the scoring front-runners for rookies, with Citron sitting at 44 points and Iriafen and Bueckers at 41 apiece (all having played three games). Might team success factor into votes? It's plenty early, but the Wings are 0-3 while the Mystics have turned heads with a 2-1 start."

There are still 41 games left in the regular season for the Wings to right the ship, and the team's performance may have no real impact on the RoY race. That said, if either Iriafen, Citron -- or even an unexpected dark horse candidate -- continues to put up numbers that rival those of Bueckers, it'll be difficult to discount them.