3 winners, 3 losers from Golden State Valkyries expansion draft

The Valkyries assembled their inaugural roster: here’s what stood out.

Thanks to Friday evening’s expansion draft, the Golden State Valkryies finally have a team. The WNBA’s 13th team picked the following players, all of whom were left unprotected by their previous squads.

1. Kayla Thornton (New York Liberty)
2. Monique Billings (Phoenix Mercury)
3. Julie Vanloo (Washington Mystics)
4. Stephanie Talbot (Los Angeles Spark)
5. Cecilia Zandalasini (Minnesota Lynx)
6. Temi Fagbenle (Indiana Fever)
7. Kate Martin (Las Vegas Aces)
8. Veronica Burton (Connecticut Sun)
9. Maria Conde (Chicago Sky)
10. Iliana Rupert (Atlanta Dream)
11. Carla Leite (Dallas Wings)

The first 8 players on that list were active in the WNBA last season, while the latter three are players that existing teams had rights to — but not players that were actively playing for WNBA teams in 2024.

Here’s who won and who lost in the Golden State Valkyries expansion draft.

Winners

Natalie Nakase and Valkyries

This one might be too obvious, but it has to be said. On all fronts, the Valkyries are in a great situation heading into the 2025 WNBA season. Not only do they have a reliable ownership group paired with one of the NBA’s most successful modern franchises (the Golden State Warriors), they now also have at least the skeleton of their 2025 roster, and it’s not a bad place to start.

Veronica Burton, Temi Fangbenle, and Kayla Thornton are three highly effective defenders the Valkyries can build around while Carla Leite is an elite European prospect who could ultimately be a cornerstone of this roster if she decides to come to the WNBA. The Valkyries didn’t take on any massive contracts here, so they’re well-positioned to make a splash in free agency while also stocking up on rights to overseas talent. The mixture of veterans, like Thornton, and young players, like Kate Martin, also puts them in good position for next season.

The Valkyries prioritized culture fits when assembling this roster, said head coach Natalie Nakase on ESPN.

“We’re trying to build a very, very competitive culture,” said Nakase. “We’re going to play a fast pace, and obviously, we’re going to shoot some threes. That’s what we’re going to do.”

The first-year head coach also outlined three non-negotiable characteristics she wanted all Valkyries players to have, and at first glance, players on the Valkyries’ inaugural roster reflect these characteristics.

1. Be ultra-competitive. “They have to really love winning, and hate to lose,” she said.
2. Have high character: “htey have to sacrifice for the greater good of the team, always.”
3. Maintain a never-satisfied mindset: “They have to play with a little chip on their shoulder.”

International basketball

Right away, this is a very international roster. Of the 11 players that were selected, six were born outside of the U.S: Iliana Rupert (France), Carla Leite (France), Julie Vanloo (Belgium), Cecilia Zandalasini (Italy), Stephanie Talbot (Australia), Maria Conde (Spain).

Three of the players selected by the Valkyries didn’t play in the WNBA last year to prioritize their overseas responsibilities: Rupert, Leite, and Conde. It’s unclear what their plans are for the coming season. Regardless, the Valkyries’ selections signal the growth of women’s basketball overseas.

Kate Martin

Martin was a good fit in, and reportedly very well-liked, in Las Vegas. But, at 24 years old and fresh off of her first season in the league, she’s still developing and is likely an even better fit on the Valkyries.

“I’m really excited,” Martin said on ESPN moments after the news broke. “This league is all about opportunity and you just need one shot, right? I’m very thankful for the Aces and everything that I got to learn there, but I am really excited for this new beginning and to build something from the ground up with the Valkyries.”

Losers

Kayla Thornton

Thornton was a veteran on a Liberty team that has a good chance at repeating next season. It was a good situation where she saw consistent bench minutes and seemed to be a strong culture fit.

Now, she’s headed to a brand-new organization that likely won’t contend in the near term. Thornton might relish the chance — the Valkyries are an exciting franchise that will be well-resourced from the jump, and she could very well have a bigger role in Golden State than she did in New York. But, if her goal was to add to her championship count, she was in a pretty good situation in New York.

Connecticut Sun

Veronica Burton is a substantial loss for a Sun team that enters an offseason of uncertainty. Burton was a more-than-serviceable back-up point guard — and a seamless fit on the Sun roster after she was acquired midseason. She was tasked with guarding opposing team’s top guards when in the ball game and provided starting guard DiJonai Carrington with much-needed relief.

Connecticut likely had to make the difficult decision of protecting either Olivia Nelson-Ododa or Burton, and it appears that the Sun went with the former, potentially in anticipation of potentially losing a post player in free agency. Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner, and Brionna Jones are all unrestricted free agents this summer, and Carrington is a restricted free agent. In an ideal world, the Sun would run it back with their backcourt trio of Ty Harris, Carrington, and Burton, but the Valkyries had other plans.

As a result, Connecticut was one of the few teams to lose an impactful rotation player — and with so much offseason uncertainty, they weren’t in a great position to lose a key player.

Indiana Fever

Like Connecticut, Indiana lost out on a key player in the Valkyries expansion draft: Temi Fagbenle. The 32-year-old averaged 6.4 points on 50.9% shooting and 4.7 rebounds in 18.9 minutes per game last season for Indiana. She often served as one of the team’s most reliable rim runners and was a well-rounded and reliable defender. Trust in Fagbenle grew throughout the season; she even started Indiana’s final playoff game in place of NaLyssa Smith.

The Fever are well-positioned for the future, centered around a core comprised of Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston. Fagbenle wasn’t going to make or break the roster. Still, she seemed to be a fixture of the locker room and ultimately established herself as one of Indiana’s most reliable bench players.