Sportswriter Neil Paine and ESPN have released their 2024 WNBA Rookie Rankings midway through a record-breaking WNBA season.
Leading the way is Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, followed by No. 1 overall pick and Indiana Fever guard, Caitlin Clark.
Washington Mystics forward and fellow Sky forward Kamilla Cardoso trail the two frontrunners.
To make this list, Paine takes into account a wide range of factors including Basketball-Reference’s Win Shares, Estimated Wins Added from Player Efficiency Rating (PER) and wins generated according to estimated RAPTOR, a newer plus/minus-style stat.
The metrics are then used to rank the rookies on a 0-100 percentile scale compared to all WNBA players this season in important metrics such as scoring, true shooting percentage, passing, rebounding rate and defensive impact.
Reese’s win shares (2.8), PER wins (3.3), RAPTOR wins (2.5) and consensus number (2.9), place her in the No. 1 spot, up from the No. 2 spot in Paine’s June 6 ranking where Los Angeles Sparks forward Cameron Brink earned the No. 1 spot.
Reese has been having a great season so far, breaking Candace Parker’s consecutive double-double record and creating one of her own with 14 double-doubles and counting.
“It’s absolutely amazing to see,” first-year head coach Teresa Weatherspoon said when Reese set the double-double record. “She might be surprising herself, but she’s not surprising me. It’s something that she can do because it’s something that she puts the work in to be able to do. And it’s a will and want-to… it’s awesome to see the work that you have to put in to be able to do this.”
Reese and the Chicago Sky will take on the No. 1 ranked New York Liberty Thursday, July 11 at & P.M. ET. The game will be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.
Amara Bullard is a Marketing + Media student at Loyola University in Chicago aspiring to work in basketball operations.
