Natalie Nakase, dressed in the purple uniform of the region’s newest professional sports team, was on her way to get coffee in San Francisco when a man stopped her on the street. He correctly identified her as the new head coach of the Golden State Valkyries and excitedly asked, during the first week of December, if they were playing that night.
No, Nakase thought. No, I don’t think so? RIGHT?
“I definitely thought, because of his energy, like ‘oh shit, do I have a game today?’” Nakase told Yahoo Sports. “His energy was so energetic and as we went through this process, we kept saying we didn’t get much sleep. He really understood me.
The energy around the Valkyries, the WNBA’s first expansion team since 2008, is undoubtedly heightened after golfer Michelle Wie West, rapper E-40 and former NBA All-Star Baron Davis announced the initial team selections to a busy expansion draft event last week.
This initial roster of 11 (the Valkyries did not choose Seattle) is not what these fervent fans will see when the the team starts to play at the Chase Center in five months. The expansion draft was just one step in the journey, providing a baseline for Golden State to advance alongside the rest of the league’s 12 teams in the months to come.
Nakase, general manager Ohemaa Nyanin and vice president of basketball operations Vanja ÄŚernivec began by balancing the different paths to building a team from the ground up under the $1.5 million cap for 2025. After agreeing to a salary of just $305,595 after the expansion draft and agreeing to the rights to several players who may not be involved in the WNBA next season, the Washington front office Valkyries will enter a loaded free agency with $1.2 million in cap space.
Nyanin, previously the New York Liberty’s director of basketball operations and then assistant director, worked with Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb when he wrote three big names on a whiteboard. He unloaded them all. The “hard reset,” as described by Nyanin, resulted in the league’s first true superteam built via free agency and ultimately the franchise’s first championship in 2024.
Nyanin doesn’t have a whiteboard yet, as the offices are being renovated, but she is also planning where and who to prioritize.
“Philosophically speaking, yes, we have athletes we are interested in,” Nyanin said. “And we’re thinking a lot more about which athletes we want to bring in and why, because our culture is going to be representative of them and we want them to be active participants.”
The player’s supermax is around $250,000 and the contract for his No. 5 pick in April’s college draft is $75,643, allowing Golden State to add several near-max salaries. Most players unlikely to sign after 2025 because a new collective agreement will bring higher wages and potential rule changes. This offseason’s list of unrestricted free agents includes veterans Breanna Stewart, Courtney Vandersloot, Kelsey Mitchell, Nneka Ogwumike and Gabby Williams.
Two-time Aces champion Kelsey Plum is also an unrestricted free agent who might be intrigued by a change of scenery and leading a new franchise. She did not sign a contract extension with the Aces, an unusual occurrence for their core four players, and Nakase knows firsthand that the Olympic gold medalist has the “dude” factor she desires.
Sun free agent forward Alyssa Thomas has been more vocal about the lack of pro-level facilities and support in Connecticut, but the 11-year veteran might want a team more championship-ready than Golden State. She has yet to win a WNBA title. DeWanna Bonner, Thomas’ fiancĂ©e, is also an unrestricted free agent, as is Sun center Brionna Jones.
Satou Sabally would be another attractive free agent to build on (even though she has been injured much of her five-year career). Adding the German national team as a star would add another layer to the already complex relationships of Golden State’s international-heavy roster.
Seven of the 11 players selected by the Valkyries in the expansion draft are international, and there’s a good chance many won’t fit for Golden State. They have shown varying levels of commitment to the WNBA over the course of their careers, instead prioritizing national teams and national clubs. The WNBA Priority Clauseenacted in 2023, makes it difficult for some international players to play at home and in the WNBA, where they must now report to training camp on time or face suspension.
Exclusions from the CBA prioritization rule allow players to leave their W teams for international competitions. It’s always difficult for a franchise and coach to be without a key contributor while going through difficult contracts to keep a bench.
EuroBasket will potentially swallow up the entire month of June for a combination of Valkyries Temi Fagbenle (Great Britain), Cecilia Zandalasini (Italy), Stephanie Talbot (Australia), Julie Vanloo (Belgium), Maria Conde (Spain), Iliana Rupert (France). ) and Carla Leite (France). If their teams qualified in February, they would be unavailable for a quarter of the Valkyries’ season (11 out of 44 games). Some might choose to skip the WNBA altogether to stay home for the tournament.
“We were very intentional about the athletes (we selected) because their talent is obvious,” Nyanin said. “And to be able to even have the inaugural opportunity to welcome them into this organization, whether they make it to training camp or not, we just wanted to have the opportunity to be able to connect with them and continue to elevate them in their respective domains.
The Valkyries trio had video meetings with each selected player before finalizing the roster and official announcement on Friday. It was important for Nyanin to add some positive to what would be negative knowing they were left off their former teams’ protected list.
“(We) just wanted to reassure them that this is a time that they need to think about (and) they need to think about it,” Nyanin said.
Nyanin wants new players to do more research on the franchise as they decide plans for 2025 and as the Valkyries front office continues to work on an evolving roster.
“When we come back to the table to just talk about next steps,” she said, “we’ve all been through different emotions and are able to talk about what’s mutually best for us.”
