Valkyries expansion draft: Aces' Martin among 11 joining Golden State roster
The Golden State Valkyries' roster is finally starting to take shape.
The WNBA's 13th franchise began the process of constructing a team Friday with an expansion draft that featured an opportunity to select one player from each of the league's other dozen organizations.
Here's a look at what went down with an explanation for the criteria and rules listed below:
| PLAYER | PREVIOUS TEAM | POSITION |
|---|---|---|
| Iliana Rupert | Atlanta Dream | C |
| Maria Conde | Chicago Sky | F |
| Veronica Burton | Connecticut Sun | G |
| Carla Leite | Dallas Wings | G |
| Temi Fagbenle | Indiana Fever | C |
| Kate Martin | Las Vegas Aces | G |
| Stephanie Talbot | Los Angeles Sparks | F |
| Cecilia Zandalasini | Minnesota Lynx | F |
| Kayla Thornton | New York Liberty | F |
| Monique Billings | Phoenix Mercury | F |
| Julie Vanloo | Washington Mystics | G |
The Valkyries, which were not required to select a player from every team, chose not to make a selection from the Seattle Storm.
Each team privately submitted a list of six players - including pending free agents for whom they own the contract rights - the Valkyries couldn't select. Golden State could choose only one player set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason and couldn't pick an unrestricted free agent who's been tagged with the core player designation for two or more seasons.
Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin revealed following the draft that she preferred to go "all-in" with the team's selections rather than ship them off immediately in possible trades she had been looking into, according to ESPN's Kendra Andrews.
Of the 11 players selected, three did not feature in the WNBA last season: Rupert, Conde, and Leite. Rupert, a champion with the Aces in 2022, elected to sit out the 2024 campaign to focus on the Olympics in her native France. Her compatriot Leite was the ninth overall pick in April's WNBA draft. Conde was selected 27th overall by Chicago in the 2019 draft, but the Spanish guard has yet to play in the league.
The 11 picks were revealed in alphabetical order of their previous team. They were announced at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art with the help of a few popular local faces: five-time LPGA TOUR winner Michelle Wie West announced the first four picks, Bay Area hip-hop icon E-40 revealed the second quartet, and former Golden State Warriors guard Baron Davis announced the final three, as well as the Storm non-selection.
Golden State gets its inaugural regular-season campaign underway when it hosts the Los Angeles Sparks at the Chase Center in San Francisco on May 16.