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Most professional expansion teams rely on an infusion of young talent to build a foundation for the future.
The Golden State Valkyries are not acting like most expansion teams.
With the Valkyries set to open their inaugural season on Friday at Chase Center, the roster won’t feature any of the three players selected in the 2025 WNBA Draft.
After waiving third-round pick Kaitlyn Chen — a promising guard who won a national title with UConn this spring — on Wednesday, the Valkyries have now cut two of their three draftees and have yet to announce when they expect 19-year-old first-round pick Juste Joctye to join the roster.
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The Valkyries waived Chen and four other players as they announced their 12-person roster ahead of their matchup with the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday. The decision to part with Chen comes less than two weeks after the team waived second-round pick Shyanne Sellers, who was widely projected as a Top-10 pick before sliding to the Valkyries at No. 17.
Joctye, who was a relatively surprising selection with the No. 5 pick, is now the lone draftee poised to contribute to any future Valkyries success. The teenage star is planning to play for Lithuania’s national team at EuroBasket in June and no members of the organization have spoken publicly about an expectation that Joctye will join the Valkyries this season.
While a midseason arrival in the United States isn’t out of the question, it’s more likely that the left-handed guard will make her team debut in 2026.
In addition to fielding a roster without any draftees, the Valkyries also cut promising young forward Laeticia Amihere, a 2023 first-round pick of the Atlanta Dream who scored 20 points in 19 minutes in a preseason matchup with the Los Angeles Sparks.
The transactions leave coach Natalie Nakase with a roster that blends veteran talent such as 12th-year WNBA guard Tiffany Hayes and seventh-year forward Monique Billings with a group of younger players such as guard Carla Leite and guard Kate Martin who were among the first six players the Valkyries selected in December’s expansion draft.
Here’s the full roster the Valkyries announced on Wednesday:
Guards: No. 0 Carla Leite, No. 15 Tiffany Hayes, No. 20 Kate Martin, No. 22 Veronica Burton, and No. 35 Julie Vanloo
Forwards: No. 5 Kayla Thornton, No. 7 Stephanie Talbot, No. 13 Janelle Salaün, and No. 24 Cecilia Zandalasini
Centers: No. 14 Temi Fágbénlé, No. 25 Monique Billings, and No. 31 Kyara Linskens.
Valkyries announce broadcast partners
The majority of Valkyries games including Friday’s season-opener will air locally on KPIX (channel 5) or KPIX+ (channel 44).
Last week, the team announced its TV broadcast crew as Jacob Tobey will serve as the play-by-play broadcaster alongside color commentator Morgan Ragan. Tobey is the voice of the San Antonio Spurs while Ragan has worked as a pre and postgame show host covering the Sacramento Kings on NBC Sports Bay Area.
KPIX will also broadcast pregame, halftime, and postgame shows anchored by longtime Bay Area TV sports anchor Vern Glenn. He’ll work with analysts Zena Keita and longtime WNBA veteran Layshia Clarendon.
The Valkyries announced a multi-year partnership with 95.7 The Game and Audacy on Tuesday. All home games will air live on 95.7 The Game and all Valkyries games will be available to stream live within the Audacy app.
Play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Danna will team with analyst Sophia Jones on radio calls.