May 22, 2025 • 11 mins
The WNBA's 2025 Top 25 Player Rankings from ESPN spark debate, particularly regarding sophomore Caitlin Clark's #4 ranking which creates unrealistic expectations for a young player still developing her game. I break down my alternative rankings that place established veterans higher and analyze how these rankings create different pressure points for teams across the league.
• ESPN ranks Caitlin Clark as the #4 player behind Wilson, Collier, and Stewart
• My personal ranking has Breanna Stewart at #1, followed by Collier and Wilson
• I place Clark at #14, believing sophomores shouldn't face undue pressure
• Aces and Liberty clearly positioned as favorites with multiple top players
• Mercury's big three (Thomas, Sabali, Copper) creates championship expectations
• Atlanta Dream poised for contention with Howard, Griner, and Gray
• Seattle Storm needs supporting cast to step up around their core players
• Placing sophomores like Clark in top 5 adds unnecessary pressure
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
What's up everybody?
It's your favorite show'sfavorite show.
Get a Bucket.
I'm your host, trey, and asusual, I hope you're all having
a wonderful, wonderful day.
Today we're going to talk aboutthe WNBA's 2025 Top 25 Player
Rankings.
But before we talk about that,please make sure to hit that
like and subscribe button.
Comment, tell anyone who'sanyone about the show trying to
get the ratings up a little bit.
You know, just a little bit.
(00:22):
Like I said, ladies andgentlemen, we're going to talk
about the 2025 top 25 playerrankings for the WNBA.
Now we'll talk about ESPN'srankings, because they did rank
them Right, but I'm gonna givemy expectations as well.
So we'll start it off withESPN's rankings.
So as follows Number one AsiaWilson, right.
(00:42):
Number two, nafisa Collier.
Number three Breanna Stewart.
Number four Asia Wilson, right.
Number two Nafisa Collier.
Number three Breanna Stewart.
Number four Kaitlyn Clark.
Okay.
Number five Alyssa Thomas.
Number six Jonquil Jones.
Number seven Sabrina Iandescu.
Number eight Nneka Agumake.
Number nine, jackie Young.
And number 10, kelsey Plum.
So that rounds out the top 10,ladies and gentlemen.
(01:06):
After that, you have number 11,kalia Copper.
You have number 12, satu Sabali.
Number 13, kelsey Mitchell.
Number 14, arike Agumbawale.
Number 15, kayla McBride.
Number 16, chelsea Gray, number17, brittany Griner, number 18,
skylar Diggins, number 19,jewel Lloyd, number 20, ryan
Howard, number 18, skylarDiggins, number 19, jewel Lloyd,
number 20, ryan Howard, number21, aaliyah Boston, number 22,
(01:28):
de'arica Hamby, number 23,alicia Gray, number 24, ezzie
Magmigore and number 25, angelReese.
Now, that's a decent 25 rightthere.
I'm not gonna lie to y'all.
Okay, it's interesting.
However, here's my expectationspersonally, personally.
Here's my expectationspersonally, personally.
Here's my expectations.
All right, so I have briannastewart, nefisa and asia wilson
(01:51):
as the top three.
Just rearranged the order alittle bit respectfully.
You know, stewie is thedefending champ back to back,
right, not back to back likelet's see if she can go back to
back, but reigning champ.
I gotta throw her in there.
You know I'm saying then nefisacollier with what she did last
season, number two.
I think it's fair to say she'snumber two, like they were in
the finals, ladies and gentlemen, we gotta throw them there.
(02:13):
And then asia wilson for numberthree.
They're the, they're the topthree for me in wmb.
I've talked about that before,so you know it is what is.
If y'all noticing I have numberfour as Alyssa Thomas, five NECA
, guma K Rika, like y'all mightbe looking at the listing and
saying, all right, where isKaitlyn Clark?
I do drop Kaitlyn based on myown personal expectations.
(02:34):
Again, ladies and gentlemen,this is a sophomore that we're
talking about.
Her rookie season was just lastyear.
There are a couple otherplayers who have more history in
the WNBA.
Other players who have morehistory in the WNBA.
They have been dominant in theWNBA at some point in time in
their career.
Not saying Kaitlyn hasn't had agood season.
She was hooping, don't get mewrong.
Alyssa Thomas, nneka Agumake,rikia Agumawale, sabrina Ionescu
(02:59):
, brittany Griner, jonquellJones, satu Sabali All of these
players have had notable WNBAcareers thus far.
I can't quite throw KaitlynClark defensively over those
players right now.
Then you got Jackie Young,kelsey Plum, ryan Howard.
I have Kaitlyn Clark at number14.
(03:19):
Again, ladies and gentlemen,it's okay to have her outside
the top 10.
And this is my expectationsbecause, well, let's look at the
top 25 listing, right, andlet's really dissect this.
So, obviously, when we talkabout teams like the Aces and
Liberty, they have pressure.
(03:40):
They're going to have pressureregardless.
The Aces have four players inthe top 20.
The Liberties have three playerplayers in the top 10.
All right, so the needs theyhave everything.
The X factor injury during thefree season.
Are they going to have aninjury free season?
That's it.
Like that's what we're payingattention to.
Ok, but when you put KaitlynClark at number four, yes, we do
(04:08):
have pressure on the IndianaFever, ladies and gentlemen,
because all the acquisitionsthat they acquired right, espn
gave them the number four, thenumber 13, and the number 21
player.
Based on my expectations, Ihave number 14, number 19, and
number 24.
For me, their needs are thecohesion timeframe and their X
factor is For me, their needsare the cohesion time frame and
(04:29):
their X factor is hey, can LeahBoston dominate and can CeCe
Kaitlyn Clark?
Can she cut down the turnovers?
Remember, again, she wasaveraging about six last year,
ladies and gentlemen, that is alot of turnovers.
So if we can cut those down andI know a lot of people are
talking about her teammates weredropping the passes it was
primarily Kaitlyn.
Offensive fouls are turnoversas well too.
So if we can cut those down,this team could go the distance.
(04:53):
But because of how ESPN ratesher, we have to put pressure on
them.
If they don't make it to thefinals and win, is that a bust
season?
Because again, y'all have thenumber four player.
That's what we're talking about, and she's a sophomore too.
Let's pump the brakes on this,because now we're adding
(05:16):
unnecessary pressure, and Ithink DeJuan Abonner made a
wonderful statement.
They haven't won anything, solet's chill out on that.
How about a team like theMercury, who I think do deserve
pressure right now?
A little bit of pressurebecause their big three is
pretty stout.
Espn has them rated number five, 11 and 12.
Of my expectations, that'snumber four, number 10 and
(05:39):
number 15.
So, when you have Alyssa Thomas, satu Sabali and Kalia Copper,
ladies and gentlemen, you reallyjust got to ask do you have
enough supporting cast?
And that's their needs Figuringout if their supporting cast is
sufficient because that bigthree, they can dominate.
Now there is a question markaround that dominate because can
(06:00):
they dominate enough to win achampionship?
That's what we're trying tofigure out this season, if the
supporting cast ain't goodenough.
But those are my two biggestquestion marks and that's why
the X factor and the needs areboth around the supporting cast.
If they have good bench support, they straight.
If they don't, it could be aninteresting season.
(06:21):
But again, ladies and gentlemen,teams like the Phoenix Mercury,
teams like Yet the AtlantaDream.
They deserve a little bit ofpressure Because of where I have
them ranked.
I don't have sophomores in thisargument like Ryan Howard OK,
(06:44):
granted the rate, the rankingsmight even favor the fever in
this situation.
Right, because the AtlantaDream I have them rated number
17, number 20, and number 23 interms of their big three.
Right, are they enough todominate in terms of Ryan Howard
, brittany Griner and AliciaGray?
Now, that team is stout and Iexpect them to be fighting for
that contention spot.
(07:04):
I need Brittany Griner to be inthe deep boy conversation.
I need Ryan Howard to startinching into that MVP
conversation, because those arethings that are actually doable,
at least in my personal opinion.
And again, the bench supportgoes for the X factor this time
(07:26):
Because they have the team, theyhave the depth.
It's just about the execution.
Now, jordan Canada's injury isgoing to be a little interesting
.
I'm going to note that, butthat's at the beginning of the
season, if she's able to comeback healthy.
I got extreme expectations onthe dream being contenders, but
again, ladies and gentlemen,we're not talking about
sophomores.
(07:47):
But let's move on down to theSeattle Storm Because, again,
based on ESPN's rankings, theygot the number eight player, the
number 18 player, the number 24player.
I personally have them asfollows Number five Shout out
NECA, you know I'm saying number18.
All right, skyler and number 22.
As he would have that backwardsand make sure, not had that
(08:10):
backwards, or did I have thatbackwards, let me make sure?
No, I had that backwards,that's what I thought.
Skylar, number 22 and Ezzy,number 18.
Because again, these girls canhoop.
That's a solid big three rightthere.
Do they have enough supportingcast, which the need is also got
to play to their potential aswell?
So I'm looking at Skylar.
I'm looking at as the I'm notas much NECA, but NECA can dip
(08:34):
to at times as well.
But again, overall this bigthree should qualify for the
playoffs, should execute wellenough Players like a Jordan
Horston, I'm looking at youbecause I need you to flourish
Now you have to.
Jewel Lloyd's gone.
They need more help.
(08:55):
Also, you got a DominiqueMalonga, so I am expecting her
to ball out as well too.
But again, ladies and gentlemen, that's a rookie.
I ain't trying to put all thatpressure on her right now.
Peep the trend Again.
Y'all are putting a lot ofpressure on a sophomore.
Let's pump the brakes.
Kaitlyn Clark is a good player,like I just talked about,
(09:17):
dominique Malanga, though, she'sa good player, too Good
potential Telling y'all rightnow y'all want to pump the
brakes on this.
But again, ladies and gentlemen,espn's rankings.
We got to ask are these reallyaccurate?
Are these really fair?
We got to ask are these reallyaccurate, are these really fair?
Because for the, for the fever,if so, that's three players in
(09:38):
the top 25.
And let's not forget too, theygot five players in the top 50
for the fantasy rankings thatESPN gave off.
So if we're basing, yeah, we'refollowing ESPN, espn putting
putting a lot of pressure ontheever and a lot of pressure on
Kaitlin Clark.
So I'll be curious to see howESPN covers the Fever and
(09:59):
Kaitlin Clark, how the fans andstans of Kaitlin Clark deal with
the Fever, if they win or lose.
That's going to be fun to see.
But overall, like I said, thelisting, it was cool.
I had a couple of gripes aboutit, but, like I said, ladies and
gentlemen, these are my overallexpectations For this year's
(10:20):
WNBA season.
I'm curious who y'all lean morewith myself or ESPN?
Y'all know where I land.
So that's why I said I'mcurious where y'all stay.
But that does conclude the endof the episode.
Ladies and gentlemen, so Igreatly appreciate y'all for
(10:42):
listening and definitely wanty'all to let me know what y'all
think about my listing as wellas ESPN's.
But hope y'all are stayingtuned and tuning into the WNBA
because it's definitely been ahoot and a half thus far.
But I got to go finish.
I'm about to go watch more Hoot, my Dago and stuff, so hope you
all enjoyed it.
But definitely please like,subscribe, comment, tell anyone
who's anyone about the WNBA andmy show.
(11:03):
My name is Trey.
I'm the host to get a bucket.
Hope you all are having a goodone.
Take care.
What's up everybody?
It's your favorite show'sfavorite show.
Get a Bucket.
I'm your host, trey, and asusual, I hope you're all having
a wonderful, wonderful day.
Today we're going to talk aboutthe WNBA's 2025 Top 25 Player
Rankings.
But before we talk about that,please make sure to hit that
like and subscribe button.
Comment, tell anyone who'sanyone about the show trying to
get the ratings up a little bit.
You know, just a little bit.
(00:22):
Like I said, ladies andgentlemen, we're going to talk
about the 2025 top 25 playerrankings for the WNBA.
Now we'll talk about ESPN'srankings, because they did rank
them Right, but I'm gonna givemy expectations as well.
So we'll start it off withESPN's rankings.
So as follows Number one AsiaWilson, right.
(00:42):
Number two, nafisa Collier.
Number three Breanna Stewart.
Number four Asia Wilson, right.
Number two Nafisa Collier.
Number three Breanna Stewart.
Number four Kaitlyn Clark.
Okay.
Number five Alyssa Thomas.
Number six Jonquil Jones.
Number seven Sabrina Iandescu.
Number eight Nneka Agumake.
Number nine, jackie Young.
And number 10, kelsey Plum.
So that rounds out the top 10,ladies and gentlemen.
(01:06):
After that, you have number 11,kalia Copper.
You have number 12, satu Sabali.
Number 13, kelsey Mitchell.
Number 14, arike Agumbawale.
Number 15, kayla McBride.
Number 16, chelsea Gray, number17, brittany Griner, number 18,
skylar Diggins, number 19,jewel Lloyd, number 20, ryan
Howard, number 18, skylarDiggins, number 19, jewel Lloyd,
number 20, ryan Howard, number21, aaliyah Boston, number 22,
(01:28):
de'arica Hamby, number 23,alicia Gray, number 24, ezzie
Magmigore and number 25, angelReese.
Now, that's a decent 25 rightthere.
I'm not gonna lie to y'all.
Okay, it's interesting.
However, here's my expectationspersonally, personally.
Here's my expectationspersonally, personally.
Here's my expectations.
All right, so I have briannastewart, nefisa and asia wilson
(01:51):
as the top three.
Just rearranged the order alittle bit respectfully.
You know, stewie is thedefending champ back to back,
right, not back to back likelet's see if she can go back to
back, but reigning champ.
I gotta throw her in there.
You know I'm saying then nefisacollier with what she did last
season, number two.
I think it's fair to say she'snumber two, like they were in
the finals, ladies and gentlemen, we gotta throw them there.
(02:13):
And then asia wilson for numberthree.
They're the, they're the topthree for me in wmb.
I've talked about that before,so you know it is what is.
If y'all noticing I have numberfour as Alyssa Thomas, five NECA
, guma K Rika, like y'all mightbe looking at the listing and
saying, all right, where isKaitlyn Clark?
I do drop Kaitlyn based on myown personal expectations.
(02:34):
Again, ladies and gentlemen,this is a sophomore that we're
talking about.
Her rookie season was just lastyear.
There are a couple otherplayers who have more history in
the WNBA.
Other players who have morehistory in the WNBA.
They have been dominant in theWNBA at some point in time in
their career.
Not saying Kaitlyn hasn't had agood season.
She was hooping, don't get mewrong.
Alyssa Thomas, nneka Agumake,rikia Agumawale, sabrina Ionescu
(02:59):
, brittany Griner, jonquellJones, satu Sabali All of these
players have had notable WNBAcareers thus far.
I can't quite throw KaitlynClark defensively over those
players right now.
Then you got Jackie Young,kelsey Plum, ryan Howard.
I have Kaitlyn Clark at number14.
(03:19):
Again, ladies and gentlemen,it's okay to have her outside
the top 10.
And this is my expectationsbecause, well, let's look at the
top 25 listing, right, andlet's really dissect this.
So, obviously, when we talkabout teams like the Aces and
Liberty, they have pressure.
(03:40):
They're going to have pressureregardless.
The Aces have four players inthe top 20.
The Liberties have three playerplayers in the top 10.
All right, so the needs theyhave everything.
The X factor injury during thefree season.
Are they going to have aninjury free season?
That's it.
Like that's what we're payingattention to.
Ok, but when you put KaitlynClark at number four, yes, we do
(04:08):
have pressure on the IndianaFever, ladies and gentlemen,
because all the acquisitionsthat they acquired right, espn
gave them the number four, thenumber 13, and the number 21
player.
Based on my expectations, Ihave number 14, number 19, and
number 24.
For me, their needs are thecohesion timeframe and their X
factor is For me, their needsare the cohesion time frame and
(04:29):
their X factor is hey, can LeahBoston dominate and can CeCe
Kaitlyn Clark?
Can she cut down the turnovers?
Remember, again, she wasaveraging about six last year,
ladies and gentlemen, that is alot of turnovers.
So if we can cut those down andI know a lot of people are
talking about her teammates weredropping the passes it was
primarily Kaitlyn.
Offensive fouls are turnoversas well too.
So if we can cut those down,this team could go the distance.
(04:53):
But because of how ESPN ratesher, we have to put pressure on
them.
If they don't make it to thefinals and win, is that a bust
season?
Because again, y'all have thenumber four player.
That's what we're talking about, and she's a sophomore too.
Let's pump the brakes on this,because now we're adding
(05:16):
unnecessary pressure, and Ithink DeJuan Abonner made a
wonderful statement.
They haven't won anything, solet's chill out on that.
How about a team like theMercury, who I think do deserve
pressure right now?
A little bit of pressurebecause their big three is
pretty stout.
Espn has them rated number five, 11 and 12.
Of my expectations, that'snumber four, number 10 and
(05:39):
number 15.
So, when you have Alyssa Thomas, satu Sabali and Kalia Copper,
ladies and gentlemen, you reallyjust got to ask do you have
enough supporting cast?
And that's their needs Figuringout if their supporting cast is
sufficient because that bigthree, they can dominate.
Now there is a question markaround that dominate because can
(06:00):
they dominate enough to win achampionship?
That's what we're trying tofigure out this season, if the
supporting cast ain't goodenough.
But those are my two biggestquestion marks and that's why
the X factor and the needs areboth around the supporting cast.
If they have good bench support, they straight.
If they don't, it could be aninteresting season.
(06:21):
But again, ladies and gentlemen,teams like the Phoenix Mercury,
teams like Yet the AtlantaDream.
They deserve a little bit ofpressure Because of where I have
them ranked.
I don't have sophomores in thisargument like Ryan Howard OK,
(06:44):
granted the rate, the rankingsmight even favor the fever in
this situation.
Right, because the AtlantaDream I have them rated number
17, number 20, and number 23 interms of their big three.
Right, are they enough todominate in terms of Ryan Howard
, brittany Griner and AliciaGray?
Now, that team is stout and Iexpect them to be fighting for
that contention spot.
(07:04):
I need Brittany Griner to be inthe deep boy conversation.
I need Ryan Howard to startinching into that MVP
conversation, because those arethings that are actually doable,
at least in my personal opinion.
And again, the bench supportgoes for the X factor this time
(07:26):
Because they have the team, theyhave the depth.
It's just about the execution.
Now, jordan Canada's injury isgoing to be a little interesting
.
I'm going to note that, butthat's at the beginning of the
season, if she's able to comeback healthy.
I got extreme expectations onthe dream being contenders, but
again, ladies and gentlemen,we're not talking about
sophomores.
(07:47):
But let's move on down to theSeattle Storm Because, again,
based on ESPN's rankings, theygot the number eight player, the
number 18 player, the number 24player.
I personally have them asfollows Number five Shout out
NECA, you know I'm saying number18.
All right, skyler and number 22.
As he would have that backwardsand make sure, not had that
(08:10):
backwards, or did I have thatbackwards, let me make sure?
No, I had that backwards,that's what I thought.
Skylar, number 22 and Ezzy,number 18.
Because again, these girls canhoop.
That's a solid big three rightthere.
Do they have enough supportingcast, which the need is also got
to play to their potential aswell?
So I'm looking at Skylar.
I'm looking at as the I'm notas much NECA, but NECA can dip
(08:34):
to at times as well.
But again, overall this bigthree should qualify for the
playoffs, should execute wellenough Players like a Jordan
Horston, I'm looking at youbecause I need you to flourish
Now you have to.
Jewel Lloyd's gone.
They need more help.
(08:55):
Also, you got a DominiqueMalonga, so I am expecting her
to ball out as well too.
But again, ladies and gentlemen, that's a rookie.
I ain't trying to put all thatpressure on her right now.
Peep the trend Again.
Y'all are putting a lot ofpressure on a sophomore.
Let's pump the brakes.
Kaitlyn Clark is a good player,like I just talked about,
(09:17):
dominique Malanga, though, she'sa good player, too Good
potential Telling y'all rightnow y'all want to pump the
brakes on this.
But again, ladies and gentlemen,espn's rankings.
We got to ask are these reallyaccurate?
Are these really fair?
We got to ask are these reallyaccurate, are these really fair?
Because for the, for the fever,if so, that's three players in
(09:38):
the top 25.
And let's not forget too, theygot five players in the top 50
for the fantasy rankings thatESPN gave off.
So if we're basing, yeah, we'refollowing ESPN, espn putting
putting a lot of pressure ontheever and a lot of pressure on
Kaitlin Clark.
So I'll be curious to see howESPN covers the Fever and
(09:59):
Kaitlin Clark, how the fans andstans of Kaitlin Clark deal with
the Fever, if they win or lose.
That's going to be fun to see.
But overall, like I said, thelisting, it was cool.
I had a couple of gripes aboutit, but, like I said, ladies and
gentlemen, these are my overallexpectations For this year's
(10:20):
WNBA season.
I'm curious who y'all lean morewith myself or ESPN?
Y'all know where I land.
So that's why I said I'mcurious where y'all stay.
But that does conclude the endof the episode.
Ladies and gentlemen, so Igreatly appreciate y'all for
(10:42):
listening and definitely wanty'all to let me know what y'all
think about my listing as wellas ESPN's.
But hope y'all are stayingtuned and tuning into the WNBA
because it's definitely been ahoot and a half thus far.
But I got to go finish.
I'm about to go watch more Hoot, my Dago and stuff, so hope you
all enjoyed it.
But definitely please like,subscribe, comment, tell anyone
who's anyone about the WNBA andmy show.
(11:03):
My name is Trey.
I'm the host to get a bucket.
Hope you all are having a goodone.
Take care.
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