In general, Cruse and Adler define “young cores” as players ages 25 and under, but they make a few allowances for 26-year-olds who are on or have just finished their rookie-scale contracts.
Adler explains why Indiana still has the best young core in 2025:
“They have, obviously, Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston. There is probably one team, maybe two teams in the league who have even two players that are as good together as Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston, let alone players who are in their second and third years in the league.
“Also worth noting, Lexie Hull is … a player who, given her age, given the team sort of prioritizing that kind of skill set, would [be expected] to stick around for a while. And I think at least for the purposes of looking at their future, I would consider her pretty good.”
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Cruse and Adler also agree that the Dallas Wings have the second-best young core in the WNBA this season, led by Paige Bueckers, the most recent No. 1 overall draft pick. Adler says:
“You have Paige. You have Paige. … It’s nice to have the other pieces. Maddy Siegrist is a very useful sort of power forward in the league. She’s really good at hitting twos. She’s a very good cutter. She fills gaps well. …
“And then I would say probably between Aziaha James and JJ [Quinerly], I’ve seen enough this year that at least one of them is going to be a decent depth option, but still, it’s sort of question marks at this point, given the minutes, given they’ve had nice flashes. We’re nine games into the season, and it’s not been overwhelmingly good or bad, which is solid for players of their sort of draft stock.
“And then you have, I think, in sort of the same vein as Hull, you have DiJonai [Carrington] and [NaLyssa Smith]. … You have options for productive WNBA players.”
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However, Cruse and Adler diverge when it comes to the third-best young core in the league. To hear their arguments for the Washington Mystics and the Los Angeles Sparks, respectively, listen to the full episode. And make sure to subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about the WNBA, women’s college basketball, basketball history and much more!
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