A year removed from Caitlin Clark completely changing the WNBA trading card and collectibles landscape, UConn guard Paige Bueckers appears poised to be the next superstar in the rapidly growing league.
After being drafted No. 1 overall by the Dallas Wings on Monday night, Bueckers has already delivered a number of high-dollar trading card sales before ever donning a WNBA jersey.
To date, the record price for any Bueckers card at public auction, according to Card Ladder, is the $15,500 paid for her 2023-24 Bowman Chrome University Sapphire Superfractor Autograph 1/1 on eBay in March.
Prior to that, Bueckers’ record price was the $9,760 paid for a dual autograph alongside Clark at Goldin in July 2024.
For better or for worse, Bueckers will be continuously compared to Clark by collectors and fans alike for a variety of reasons.
Their dynamic play from a lead guard position offers an obvious parallel on the court, though Clark’s popularity has transcended the sport in a way that is certainly impossible for Bueckers to match.
There is an obvious gap in their collectibility for now, too.
The record for any Clark card prior to being drafted by the Indiana Fever last year was the $78,000 paid for her 2022 Bowman University Superfractor Autograph 1/1 PSA 10 at PWCC in 2024.
Since then, Clark’s record has jumped to the $366,000 paid for her 2024 Panini Prizm WNBA Signatures Gold Vinyl 1/1 PSA 10 at Goldin in March.
Though there’s a massive delta between Clark’s pre-draft sales and Bueckers’ records, there’s plenty of data to suggest 2025’s top pick will deliver for collectors — mostly because she already has.
Comparing Bueckers to Clark is a largely unfair thought experiment, but the success of Bueckers becomes clear when she squares up to many other young stars and even all-time greats from the WNBA.
Before her first WNBA dribble, Bueckers’ top card sale has already eclipsed the public records, according to Card Ladder, for legends including Sue Bird ($7,000), Diana Taurasi ($11,000), Sheryl Swoopes ($2,025), Tamika Catchings ($985), Candace Parker ($6,900) and Lisa Leslie ($3,200).
Bueckers has similar success against the WNBA’s current superstars, too, and has already passed top sales for A’ja Wilson ($5,400), Breanna Stewart ($13,000) and Kelsey Plum ($2,500).
For now, Bueckers even has a higher sale than any card featuring the NBA’s most recent No. 1 overall pick, Zaccharie Risacher ($4,955).
Collector sentiment becomes even more clear when looking at her market as a whole — Market Movers has tracked more than 4,500 sales for Bueckers over the last 365 days, which is more than current NBA stars De’Aaron Fox (4.4k) and Damian Lillard (4.1k) and all-time greats Julius Erving (4.4k) and Hakeem Olajuwon (4.3k).
Over that time period, Bueckers’ cards tracked by Market Movers are collectively up 45% in value, and her graded cards are up 22% across more than 1,900 sales.
Bueckers even has more sales logged in Market Movers over the last year than Duke men's star Cooper Flagg, who is the heavy favorite to go No. 1 overall in the next NBA Draft.
Recent interest in Flagg, which has resulted in a number of record sales, has shown collectors might be more accepting of amateur and collegiate cards, which could help Bueckers’ cards with her Huskies uniform in the short-term.
Even if Bueckers’ collegiate cards perform well on the secondary market, the best is likely yet to come — collectors have long preferred players in their professional uniforms, and the multi-year deal she signed with Panini America in November ensures her best licensed WNBA cards will also feature autographs.
The WNBA’s trading card market is already in the middle of a renaissance with Clark leading the way, and it appears interest likely will only continue growing when Bueckers enters the fray.
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture. He was previously the Collectibles Editor at Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on X and Instagram @benmburrows.