Kayla Thornton of El Paso is heading to a new WNBA team.
For the first time since 2008, a new WNBA team is joining the league. As of Friday night, the Golden State Valkyries had a selection of players available for the WNBA Expansion Draft.
Among the players drafted by Golden State was Thornton, who helped the New York Liberty win the 2024 WNBA title in October.
Thornton, a forward, spent the last two seasons with the Liberty and played a key role off the bench, averaging 5.5 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. The 32-year-old also shot 35.7% from 3-point range and averaged the sixth-most minutes on the team (20.2).
The Liberty decided not to prevent Thornton from being selected in the expansion draft.
Under draft rules, each team in the league was allowed to designate a maximum of six “protected players” to its roster who would not be available in the draft.
Thornton’s career included six seasons with the Dallas Wings before joining New York. Thornton averaged 7.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 274 games, including 143 starts.
Thornton was a star at Irvin High School and UTEP and recently held number retirement ceremonies at both schools. She wore No. 11 at Irvin and No. 5 at UTEP.
At Irvin, she was the El Paso Times City MVP as a senior and at UTEP, she helped the team advance to the 2014 WNIT Finals as a senior.
Who coaches the Golden State Valkyries?
The 13th franchise in the WNBA is coached by Natalie Nakase. She was in Las Vegas for the past three seasons as a member of Becky Hammon. Ace coaching staff. She played basketball at UCLA as a fierce competitor.
Roster of Golden State Valkyries
The Valkyries have a team steeped in international stardom. Here are the players selected in the expansion draft, according to the team’s website:
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Iliana Rupert (Atlanta Dream) (Rookie-France)
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MarĂa Conde (Chicago Sky) (Rookie-Spain)
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Veronica Burton (Connecticut Sun) (3 years-USA)
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Carla Leite (Dallas Wings) (Rookie-France)
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Temi Fagbenle (Indiana Fever) (4 years-UK)
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Kate Martin (Las Vegas Aces) (1 year-Iowa)
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Stephanie Talbot (Los Angeles Sparks) (six years-Australia)
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Cecilia Zandalasini (Minnesota Lynx) (3 years-Italy)
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Kayla Thornton (New York Liberty) (14 years old-El Paso)
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Monique Billings (Phoenix Mercury) (7 years-USA)
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Julie Vanloo (Washington Mystics) (1 year-Belgium)
More: Basketball News UTEP set to honor its greatest player during Kayla Thornton Day at the Don Haskins Center
Felix F. Chavez can be reached at [email protected]; @Fchavezeptimes on X
This article was originally published on El Paso Times: El Paso’s Kayla Thornton to lead new Golden State Valkyries team
