The WNBA has finally released details of Golden State’s expansion plan, and the current rules could pose a threat to Golden State’s expansion plan. Freedom current depth.
On Monday, the league announced that the draft that will begin assembling the WNBA’s 13th franchise is set for December 6. The draft will allow the Valkyries to select from a designated group of available players nominated by each of the current 12 teams.
If a player not signed to a contract for the 2025 season is selected, Golden State will receive all rights to that player that the existing team would have had if that player had not been selected in the expansion draft.
Approximately 10 days before the draft date, the Liberty and the other 11 current franchises will send out a list that includes all players to whom the team has rights – active, suspended, drafted/reserved, basic, and roster players. of retirees.
This list will include six protected players who will not be eligible for the December draft.
The rest — which will include key reserve players that Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb has assembled to make a deep playoff run — are free to be selected by the Valkyries.
There’s no complete guarantee as to who Kolb, head coach Sandy Brondello and the Liberty front office will consider untouchable, but some choices are obvious.
Stars Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton are all major contributors signed to deals through the 2025 season, making them likely candidates to remain in Brooklyn on a championship-contending team.
Breanna Stewart, who is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this 2024 playoff run, is in MVP form and also projects to become an untouchable player. The Liberty used a primary designation, which functions similarly to the NFL’s franchise tag, when negotiating for the 2023 MVP at the end of last season.. If the two sides fail to reach an agreement before the scheduled draft date, the Liberty could draft Stewart again and then designate her as a protected player.
Unrestricted free agents may also be designated as protected players.
Players who have played two seasons under a primary designation during their WNBA career may no longer be retained. Golden State is allowed to sign a player who will become an unrestricted free agent in 2024, provided he hasn’t been cut twice, leaving the current franchise with no need to designate him as a protected. Seattle’s Nneka Ogwumike, Connecticut’s DeWanna Bonner and Phoenix’s Brittney Griner are a few players who fall below that threshold.
Now, that leaves two hypothetical protected spots for eight current active Liberty players: Courtney Vandersloot (UFA 2025), Kennedy Burke (UFA 2025), Ivana Dojkić (UFA 2025), Jaylyn Sherrod (2025 Kayla Thornton (UFA 2026), Nyara Sabally (2027 tender), Leonie Fiebich (2028 tender) and Marquesha Davis (2028 tender).
As noted in the release, Liberty players on the reserved list – Marine Johannes and Rebekah Gardner – may be protected. The likelihood of this happening, however, may be low. Johannes, a key contributor to the team’s WNBA Finals run in 2023, has faced prioritization issues in the past and opted to remain in France for the entirety of the 2024 WNBA season.
Gardner, that the franchise acquired via trade in Marchis expected to return to action in 2025 after suffering a torn right Achilles tendon in February while playing for Spanish club Spar Girona. There have been no updates on his status since, and the team’s additions on the wings – Fiebich and Burke – have already made a case to be higher in the pecking order after solidifying their roles in the rotation of Brondello during the 2024 season.
Of the remaining active players, Fiebich holds the most value, holds the largest role, and is likely the most coveted. Kolb took a chance on an overseas star who is now acclaimed among WNBA coaches and is under contract for the entirety of the current Liberty championship window. His status as a restricted free agent in 2028 gives the Liberty a chance to match any offer from another WNBA franchise, an added plus for the Liberty front office.
With just one spot remaining, several key players off the bench are at risk of being shipped from Brooklyn to the Bay Area.
Losing Thornton means leaving with one of Brondello’s trusted reserve defenders. Thornton appeared in every regular season game and started in 11 of them, replacing injured teammates. She managed to stand out in the head coach’s shortened playoff lineup and even played a few minutes to ensure Victory in the semi-finals of the first game on Sunday against the Las Vegas Aces.
She even showed her own commitment to the Liberty last season after opting out of free agency, perhaps leaving more money on the table, and signing a two-year extension.
Losing Burke means missing an available starting player off the bench. Vandersloot, who is in her 14th WNBA season, is still enjoying success downhill and has accepted a bench role as she continues the second half of her career.
If Sabally is drafted, the Liberty will have to go into the market for a backup center. The team benefited from Sabally entering 2024 healthy, taking on a larger role following the departure of Stefanie Dolson. And she has gradually made progress since missing the entire 2022 season after being selected fifth overall out of Oregon.
If Stewart, Jones, Ionescu, Laney-Hamilton and Fiebich are designated, that leaves just one protected player spot for four rotation players who each played a role in the Liberty winning 32 games while securing the top seed #1. This top seed remained in possession while the team dealt with injuries primarily due to the loaded bench unit.
Thornton made the starting lineup while Vandersloot and Sabally missed games with back injuries. She notched a season-high 20 points twice and even made six triples in a June 22 win over the Los Angeles Sparks. In a July 13 road win over the Chicago Sky without Stewart and Laney-Hamilton, Burke imposed his will on the defense – three steals and a block – in a game where his team was short two team members. All-WNBA defensive team.
This conundrum imposes difficult decisions on the Liberty front office.
They will have the next few months to decide who will be untouchable.
