As the 2026 WNBA regular season comes to an end, most fans can agree that Olivia Miles is the clear Rookie of the Year frontrunner. However, this has been a very talented rookie class, with multiple players showing a lot of promise in their first year in the league. Although we ranked the top five rookies to watch throughout the season, this seems like the perfect time to take a step back and highlight a longer list of players and their overall performances.
Without further ado, here are the CBS Sports Top 10 rookies of the 2026 WNBA season: Leger-Walker went from winning a national championship with UCLA to becoming the starting point guard for the Connecticut Sun in a matter of weeks. She wrapped up her rookie year with a total of 1,027 minutes played, more than any other player on the team. While there were some games in which she couldn't get much going on the stat sheet, there were others where she showed her potential -- including a game against Golden State in August in which she scored 17 points in 17 minutes while shooting 83.3% from the field.
She finished the year averaging 7.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, which was second-best among rookies. She had a career-high eight assists against Washington in late July. SHE IS THE MOMENT 🤩During last night’s game, Charlisse Leger-Walker recorded a career-high 17 points, along with 3 rebounds and 4 assists! #GoldenHour | #CTSun pic.twitter.com/wxMhuLGRtp Betts had a dominant presence in the paint during her time at UCLA, and her rim-protecting ability is already showing at the WNBA level.
Compared to others on this list, Betts doesn't have the most eye-catching stats. However, she averaged 6.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.9 blocks while coming off the bench in 17.7 minutes per game. The 6-foot-7 center tried to make the most out of her minutes and managed to lead all rookies with a total of 37 blocks.
Her most efficient game as a scorer was 18 points against Toronto in June, making an impressive 8-of-9 field-goal attempts in 21 minutes. Patience and a silky middy 😏Lauren Betts puts it on the deck, spins into space and is pure from the midrange.7 PTS | 2 REBCON-WAS | League Pass | 2026 Postseason Push | @DKSportsTap to https://t.co/yWOPBA76Jx pic.twitter.com/3khgPnUkOe Juškaitė had ups and downs this season, but the 6-foot-4 forward found more consistency in the final stretch and showed her potential to help Toronto develop into a stronger team in the near future. She finished her rookie year averaging 11.2 points per game while shooting 48% from the field.
Juškaitė registered four 20-plus point games, and three of those came in the last week of the regular season -- including her career-high 28 points against the Liberty while going 10 of 15 from the floor and a perfect 8 of 8 from the foul line. The 29-year-old from Lithuania spent over a decade playing in Europe before joining the WNBA, and that professional experience could certainly help her improve faster in the league. Besides her ability to score, Juškaitė has shown signs that she could be a strong rebounder with 18 games registering at least five rebounds.
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