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Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese: Taking stock of WNBA Rookie of the Year race

Spenser Davis

By Spenser Davis

Published:

Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have taken the WNBA by storm this season as 2 of the most productive — and talked-about — rookies in league history.

Both players have been exceptional to start their pro careers.

Clark is averaging 16 points, 7.1 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game while leading the Indiana Fever to the cusp of playoff contention. Despite a slow start, Clark is hitting nearly 34% of her 3-point attempts on a volume of 8+ tries per game. Only 3 players league-wide are attempting more long range shots than Clark, and they’re all multi-time All-Stars: Arike Ogunbowale, Sabrina Ionescu and Kelsey Plum.

Reese hasn’t been nearly as impactful as a scorer or playmaker, but she has immediately established herself as one of the WNBA’s best rebounders from Day 1. Reese is averaging 11.8 rebounds per game, which leads the league by almost a full board per night (A’ja Wilson is second with 10.9 rebounds per game).

Both Clark’s Fever and Reese’s Sky are also in contention for a WNBA playoff spot. Currently, the Sky hold a half game lead over the Fever for the 8th and final playoff slot. For ESPN’s Monica McNutt, that could end up being the deciding factor in this race.

“My rookie of the year is going to go based on the standings,” McNutt said on ‘Get Up’ on Friday morning. “Because I think that is how you have the opportunity to measure impact. And the Sky right now are in the playoffs, so you have to give the nod, in my mind, to Angel Reese.”

Here’s video of McNutt’s comments:

McNutt closed her remarks by saying the betting odds don’t reflect how close this race is. As of Friday morning, Clark remains a -550 favorite to win the award according to the latest odds from ESPN BET. Reese, meanwhile, is +350 to take home the hardware.

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From those odds, the betting market seems to be valuing Clark’s impact as a playmaker and isolation scorer above what Reese has done on the glass. Reese has also been significantly less efficient as a scorer, posting a true shooting percentage of 47.3% compared to Clark’s 56.7%. Unless that flips, it’s difficult to see Reese making a serious run at this award.

Of course, there’s still time for Clark and Reese to build their respective cases for this award. Some teams, like the Sky, for example, have not quite hit the halfway point of their season.

Clark’s Fever are 2-1 against Chicago so far this season. Clark and Reese won’t square off again until Aug. 30.

Spenser Davis

Spenser is the news manager at Saturday Road and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.