Caitlin Clark remains the player most general managers would want to build a franchise around if they could sign anyone, earning the accolade for a second consecutive year in the anonymous WNBA general manager survey released on Thursday.
The GMs voted Naphessa Collier most likely to win MVP (67 percent), ahead of reigning MVP A’ja Wilson (25 percent) and Clark (8 percent), while the Minnesota Lynx were voted the favorites to win the WNBA championship. Paige Bueckers earned the majority of the vote for WNBA Rookie of the Year (73 percent), but No. 2 overall pick Dominique Malonga of the Storm was voted the rookie who will be the best player in five years (60 percent).
Advertisement
It is the 20th edition of the WNBA’s GM survey, which queries all 13 leaders on 40 questions. They are not permitted to vote for their own team or personnel, and do not have to answer every question. The survey returned a year ago following a two-year hiatus. It was also not collected in 2020.
Clark and her teammates reigned atop multiple categories. The Lynx, New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces were all also heavily represented. The four are in a clear top tier of their own heading into the league’s 29th season, which tips off on Friday night.
Clark jumps in PG, SG votes
Clark received 50 percent of the vote again this season for franchise player after . Not all GMs voted for the specific question.
Advertisement
The second-year guard shared the honor of best point guard with Las Vegas Aces veteran and Olympic gold medalist Chelsea Gray. Each received 50 percent of the vote, an increase for Clark Gray earned 75 percent of the vote a year ago, while Clark, Skylar Diggins and Courtney Vandersloot each received one vote. Gray still overwhelmingly holds the title of best passer.
Clark was also named the league’s best shooting guard (33 percent) over the Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu and Lynx’s Kayla McBride (25 percent each). Clark averaged 19.2 points (seventh in the league) shooting 53.3% (19th) from inside the arc, 34.4% outside of it (40%) and 90.6% (fifth) from the free throw line. Her range that forces defenses to pick her up early makes her difficult to guard.
It was another jump for Clark, who tied with the Wings’ Arike Ogunbowale and Aces Jackie Young (8 percent) a year ago behind Jewell Loyd (75 percent). Loyd shot a career-worst 27.4% from the perimeter in her last season in Seattle and is now with the Aces. McBride, on the other hand, shot a career-best 40.7% from 3-point range and is a key reason the Lynx nearly won the title.
Fever ‘most fun to watch’
The Fever earned the titles of best overall moves in the offseason (64%), team most likely to improve (42 percent) and, overwhelmingly, the most fun to watch (75%). The franchise acquired WNBA champions DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard and Sydney Colson, as well as Sophie Cunningham. Not only are they impactful players, but Colson and Cunningham are personalities already lighting up the Fever’s social channels. They finished second in best home-court advantage behind New York, and head coach Stephanie White earned the honor of the new/relocated head coach who will have the largest impact.
Advertisement
Bonner’s signing was voted the most surprising move of the offseason, while fiancée and former Sun teammate Alyssa Thomas was voted the player most likely to make the biggest impact on the league. She signed with Phoenix.
Lynx named GMs’ favorite to win title
The Lynx nearly won it all last fall in a clinching Game 5 that went to overtime in New York. They return all of their starters and nearly everyone on their bench. Sixty percent of GMs voted them most likely to win it all, followed by New York (20), and it was a tie for third between Indiana and Las Vegas.
Collier was named most versatile player and best defender, and shared the honor of best leader and best forward with Wilson. Wilson was also named the player who forces opposing coaches to make the most adjustments, the best interior defender and the best center.
Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve, a four-time champion and league’s longest-tenured coach, was named the league’s best, as well as the best at making in-game adjustments and the best manager/motivator of people. Reeve is in her 16th year at Minnesota. Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello is in her 14th season as head coach, but her fourth in New York. The second-longest tenured head coach in one place is Noelle Quinn, in her fifth year in Seattle.