After unveiling their logo, front office, and jerseys, the Golden State Valkyries have finally landed their first players.
The new WNBA team, which was launched by Warriors owner Joe Lacob and will play games next year at Chase Center, selected 11 players Friday in the league’s expansion draft.
As a new team, the Valkyries were given the opportunity to select up to one player, excluding protected stars, from each existing team to start building a roster.
Golden State’s draft had a distinct international flair, with seven players who were born and have professional experience overseas. The rest of the draft was filled out by veterans with lengthy WNBA careers.
One notable player the Valkyries selected Friday is Kate Martin from the Las Vegas Aces. Although the guard saw only limited playing time during her rookie year, she came to national prominence playing college ball next to Caitlin Clark at Iowa before landing on the two-time champion Aces in the same draft.
Furthermore, Martin has experience playing for Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase, who was an assistant coach on the Aces before moving to San Francisco.
“Coach Nakase is someone who you want to run through a brick wall for,” Martin said. “But she matches it with love and support. I’m super grateful we got to build a relationship in Las Vegas and get to continue that in San Francisco.”
When asked on ESPN about the one word that would define her new team, Nakase said: “Competitor.”
Here is the full list of players the Valkyries selected.
- Iliana Rupert, center, Atlanta Dream: a talented French player who sat out the 2024 season to focus on the Paris Olympics, where her team won the silver medal.
- Maria Conde, forward, Chicago Sky: a Spanish player who has spent her entire 10-year career in Europe. The Sky drafted her in 2019, but she never came to play in the WNBA.
- Veronica Burton, guard, Connecticut Sun: a defensive specialist who played 20 minutes per game in last year’s playoffs, where she was matched up against Clark and helped eliminate her team, the Indiana Fever.
- Carla Leite, guard, Dallas Wings: a French prospect who was selected ninth overall last year by the Wings but opted to remain in Europe.
- Temi Fagbenle, center, Indiana Fever: a veteran who played 18 minutes per game and developed good pick-and-roll chemistry with Clark.
- Kate Martin, guard, Las Vegas Aces: played 11 minutes per game after getting drafted unexpectedly in 2024. She had attended the draft only to support her teammate Clark.
- Stephanie Talbot, forward, Los Angeles Sparks: an Australian veteran who has played for four WNBA teams, as well as in her home country.
- Cecilia Zandalasini, forward, Minnesota Lynx: an Italian who appeared in 40 games for the defending Western Conference champions and won the WNBA championships with the Lynx in 2017.
- Kayla Thornton, forward, New York Library: a key bench player for the defending champions, known for her defensive presence.
- Monique Billings, forward, Phoenix Mercury: starred at UCLA and played in China during the WNBA offseason. Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin called her a “relentless rebounder on both ends.”
- Julie Vanloo, guard, Washington Mystics: a 31-year-old from Belgium who plays in Turkey during the WNBA offseason. Nyanin called her a “ball of fire” who is “always trying to win.”
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The only team from which the Valkyries declined to select a player was the Seattle Storm, whose coaching staff is under investigation for accusations of harassment and bullying.
It is not a given that all of the international players selected will accept an offer to play in the WNBA next season, meaning those roster spots would have to be filled. But Nakase told The Standard after the draft that she was “genuinely excited about each player picked” and hopes that every selection will compete for a roster spot.
“We want all of these players here tonight,” she said.
Still missing from the team are stars who would be instrumental in helping Golden State compete, let alone contend for a championship — which Lacob has said he would like to see happen within five years. The Valkyries’ best shot at obtaining those stars will come in free agency, the trade market, or the college draft where it holds the number five pick.
Notable unrestricted free agents whom Golden State could pursue include Courtney Vandersloot (New York), Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas), Brittney Griner (Phoenix), Natasha Howard (Dallas), and Nneka Ogwumike (Seattle).
“We want players who will feel sick when they lose to the point it pushes them to find solutions,” Nyanin said. “Not everybody wants to build something from the ground up.”
Golden State hosted a live watch party for the draft at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where local stars like golfer Michelle Wie West, rapper E-40, and former Warriors player Baron Davis announced each draft pick.
The Valkyries will open their inaugural season May 16 against the Los Angeles Sparks.
Before unveiling players, the team set a record for season-ticket deposits for a women’s professional sports team, receiving more than 20,000 at Chase Center, which holds about 18,000 for basketball.
“This is a very emotional day,” Nyanin said. “This fan base is so hungry for players to don these uniforms and win games.”