Until December 6th, the biggest question mark surrounding one of the WNBA’s newest franchises – the Golden State Valkyries – was what the make up of its roster resemble.
The Valkyries had owners in Joe Lacob and Peter Guber. They had a team president in Jess Smith. They had a general manager in former New York Liberty assistant general manager Ohemaa Nyanin. They had a coach in former Las Vegas Aces assistant Natalie Nakase.
But until Dec. 6 the team had no roster. That changed when the Valkyries staged its expansion draft that was televised on ESPN with selections being announced by Michelle Wie West, Baron Davis and E-40.
Eleven players were selected by the Valkyries. Those included Monique Billings from the Phoenix Mercury, Veronica Burton out of the Connecticut Sun, María Conde of the Chicago Sky and Temi Fagbenle via the Indiana Fever. They also included Carla Leite (Dallas Wings), Kate Martin out of the Aces, Iliana Rupert out of the Atlanta Dream and Stephanie Talbot courtesy of the Los Angeles Sparks.
Rounding out the roster is Julie Vanloo via the Washington Mystics, Cecilia Zandalasini by way of the Minnesota Lynx and Kayla Thornton from the defending champion Liberty.
At last the Valkyries have a roster – and we have thoughts.
International Love
Remember those years when the Lynx appeared to be Canada’s unofficial team prior to the arrival of the recently named Toronto Tempo? That was because of all of the Canadian talent including Kia Nurse, Natalie Achonwa and Bridget Carleton that have lined Minnesota’s roster in recent seasons.
The Pitbull hit song “International Love” is likely a top track on the Valkyries’ playlist. Seven of the 11 players selected by Golden State in its draft are international talents. Those seven are Conde, Fagbenle, Leite, Rupert, Talbot, Vanloo and Zandalasini.
“No Selection”
Eleven of the 12 teams had players selected by Golden State in this draft. The lone team that did not? The Seattle Storm.
The Storm have been in the news recently for mostly the wrong reasons given allegations of an increasingly toxic environment in Seattle plus reports suggesting Jewell Loyd requesting a trade out of the Emerald City.
Meghan Hall of USA Today opined on BlueSky that several from the Storm roster who perhaps could have been available to be selected were free agents.
The Valkyries and Storm are slated to face each other on four occasions this coming season – on June 14 and 29 at San Francisco’s Chase Center and on July 16 and September 9 at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena. The July 14 get-together will be a Commissioner’s Cup contest.
Surprising Non-Protects
WNBA fans were clamoring for the names of the protected lists to be made public – but they never were.
The selections do offer a glimpse as to who was not protected. The names that stick out to us include the Sun not protecting Burton, the Aces not protecting Martin and the Fever not protecting Fagbenle.
Fagbenle could be the most surprising of them all given she bolstered Indiana’s interior presence particularly on defense. She had games where she even outperformed Aliyah Boston.
Frontcourt Heavy
Along with the Valkyries initial roster looking very deep on international talent, it also appears to be very deep on frontcourt players.
And with frontcourt players comes plenty of height and size. Only Leite, Burton and Vanloo are under six feet on this roster.
Outside of those two, this initial roster for Golden State does bear a striking resemblance to the San Francisco skyline. Martin is an even six feet. Conde and Thornton both stand at 6-foot-1. Zandalasini and Talbot are 6-foot-2. Rupert, Billings and Fagbenle all are 6-foot-4.
Trade Bait?
One key factoid to remember is while this is the initial Valkyries roster, it almost certainly will not be what Golden State fields when it plays its first game on May 16 vs. its budding in-state rival Los Angeles.
Golden State will attempt to woo players in free agency – and given its commitment to top-tier facilities ala the Aces, Liberty, Mercury, Lynx and Storm – the Valkyries could be a destination.
In addition, some of who Golden State selected could be trade bait in deals with other teams. Also – the Valkyries will have the fifth overall selection in the 2025 draft (Matt Cohen’s latest Winsidr mock has the Valks selecting LSU’s Aneesah Morrow). Golden State is also slated to select fifth in the second and third rounds of the draft as well – even though those picks are less likely to survive the final roster cuts for the Valks in May.
Plus, as has been pointed out by many – including Alexa Philippou at ESPN – any of these players selected by Golden State could be waived without salary cap ramifications. Plus, the Valkyries will be going into said free agent period with plenty of cap space.
When all is said and done, the Valkyries will likely struggle out of the gate as is typically the case with expansion teams but there is still a chance for Golden State to make a splash or two over the next several months.
