Time to buy Paige Bueckers Rookie Cards before it's too late

The Dallas Wings have won the number one pick in the 2025 draft lottery and it looks like they are going to be getting superstar.

Nov 7, 2024; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) returns the ball against the Boston University Terriers in the first half at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

There are likely going to be two superstar basketball players playing in Dallas next season. We all know Luka Dončić, but the Dallas Wings have won the number one pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft Lottery. That means Paige Bueckers is most likely going to be playing in Dallas next season.

The Wings land the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft 👏

From Connecticut to Dallas for Paige Bueckers? 🔥 pic.twitter.com/kz2f41qOeo

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) November 17, 2024

Before Caitlin Clark took the basketball world by storm, Bueckers was primed to be what Clark eventually became. She was ranked number one in her class coming out of high school and was set to play at the top women’s basketball school in the country.

To put into perspective how good Bueckers was in high school, she was ranked ahead of Angel Reese, Cameron Brink, and Caitlin Clark. However, just before the 2022 season, Bueckers tore her ACL. The following years of women’s college basketball went down as some of the most exciting, culminating in Bueckers and Clark meeting in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Clark would go on to be drafted first overall, and now Bueckers is poised to be the top pick in the 2025 draft.

Once NIL deals emerged, Topps finally gained the ability to make licensed NCAA products, and Clark became the star of the first product released in 2022.

2022-23 Bowman University Chrome - [Base] #50.1 - Caitlin Clark / Images Courtesy of COMC.com

Since Bueckers didn’t play in 2022, she had to wait until the 2023 product to make her debut. That 2023 product in retrospect could be one of the best college basketball products we see in years because of the players who got their first Bowmans, including Bueckers.

2023-24 Bowman University Chrome - [Base] #90.1 - Paige Bueckers / Images Courtesy of COMC.com

Although knowledgeable basketball fans knew Bueckers was destined for a monster season, she may have initially been overshadowed in the Bowman product by Bronny James, Angel Reese, and Cameron Brink, who also had their first Bowmans in the same release.

2023-24 Bowman University Chrome Bronny James, Angel Reese Cameron Brink / Images Courtesy of COMC.com

Going further back, Bueckers appeared in a 2021 edition of Sports Illustrated for Kids, with one of the tear-out cards—making it hard to find in good condition today.

2021 Sports Illustrated for Kids Series 5 - [Base] #963 - Paige Bueckers / Images Courtesy of COMC.com

Bowman basketball from that year was relased in Januray so if you wanted to get a card from that season that was relased before that you can choose this Topps now card from December. There ere 1568 copies of the card order so it could be a bit hard to find than some of her other cards.

2023-24 Bowman U Now - Online Exclusive [Base] #17 - Paige Bueckers /1568 [PSA 10 GEM MT] / Images Courtesy of COMC.com

Topps and Fanatics have made college cards relevant again. For years, Panini was one of the only companies producing college products, but their releases didn’t come out until after the players had been drafted. Once Topps entered the game with licensed college products, they revolutionized the market.