Valkyries use expansion draft to lay foundation for gritty roster

SAN FRANCISCO – The runway is laid, the parts have been acquired and at long last, or so it seems, the Golden State Valkyries are firing up the engines.

The Bay Area’s next professional sports franchise took the first steps to build its roster Friday by selecting 11 players – four guards, five forwards and two centers – from the WNBA Expansion Draft. Among the notables are guard Kate Martin, from the Las Vegas Aces, and center/forward Temi Fagbenle from the Indiana Fever.

Coach Natalie Nakase made her priorities clear:

“We’re definitely going to hang our hats on defense,” she said on NBC Sports Bay Area's "Warriors Pregame Live" on Friday. “I’ve been saying that over and over again. We’re going to be gritty. We’re going to be tough. Every player that we picked (is) battle-tested, meaning they will do whatever it takes to win.

“Offensively, we’re going to play the right way. We going to focus on execution. And we’re going to focus on the little details. The little details matter in our offense.”

There is a heavy international presence on Golden State’s squad, as seven of the 11 players have played on multiple continents.

Each of the 12 established WNBA teams was allowed to protect six players, while the rest – those whose rights belong to the team or are on the active roster – were made available to the Valkyries. They were allowed to select one unprotected player. Golden State chose not to select anyone from the Seattle Storm.

“We’re competitive,” general manager Ohemaa Nyanin told NBC Sports Bay Area. “Every athlete has a chip on their shoulder. They’re ready to work. The majority of them have not been given the biggest platform within the WNBA, more specifically to play. Why not in the Bay? Let’s go make ‘herstory’ together.”

Here is an alphabetical list of those chosen as inaugural members of the Valkyries:

Monique Billings (from the Phoenix Mercury): The 6-foot-4 forward from UCLA, a second-round pick in the 2018 draft, has played for three different teams, splitting 37 games (13 starts) last season between Dallas and Phoenix.

Veronica Burton (from the Connecticut Sun):  The 5-foot-9 guard from Northwestern was selected by Dallas with the seventh overall pick in the 2022 draft but was waived after two seasons.

Maria Conde (from the Chicago Sky): The 6-foot-1 guard, most recently on the Sky’s roster, has spent the past six years in Europe, the four playing for USK Praha in the Czech League. The Sky has owned her draft rights since 2019, but she has yet to make her WNBA debut.

Temi Fagbenle (from the Indiana Fever): The 6-foot-4 center, who played collegiately at Harvard and USC, was a third-round pick of the Minnesota Lynx in 2016. After five years overseas, she returned to the W last January with the Fever. At 32, Fagbenle is the eldest member of the team.

Carla Leite (from the Dallas Wings): The 5-foot-9 guard who grew up in France – attending the Tony Parker Academy High School – was a first-round pick (No. 9 overall) of the Wings in the 2024 draft but decided to remain overseas. At 20, she’s the youngest member of the Valkyries.

Kate Martin (from the Aces): The 6-foot guard who was a teammate of Caitlin Clark at the University of Iowa was selected in the second round of the 2024 draft. On a Vegas roster deep with star guards, she appeared in 34 games as a rookie, marking two starts.

Iliana Rupert (from the Atlanta Dream): The 6-foot-4 center was selected by the Aces in the first round (12th overall) of the 2021 draft and was on the 2022 championship team. She sat out the 2024 season to prepare for Team France in the Paris Olympics and won a silver medal.

Stephanie Talbot (from the Los Angeles Sparks): The 6-foot-2 forward was drafted in the third round in 2014 but has spent most of her professional career playing in her native Australia. She appeared in 37 games (10 starts) with LA last season and was fourth in minutes played.

Kayla Thornton (from the New York Liberty): The 6-foot-1 forward, undrafted in 2014, has spent her pro career crisscrossing the globe, playing on three different continents while also keeping a foot in the WNBA. She’s considered a defensive specialist.

Julie Vanloo (from the Washington Mystics): The 5-foot-8 point guard, born in Belgium, spent 10 years playing overseas before joining the Mystics last season. She played in all 40 games last season, making 34 starts, averaging 7.4 points and 4. 3 assists per game.

Cecilia Zandalasini (from the Minnesota Lynx): The 6-foot-2 forward from Italy signed 2017 as an unrestricted free agent with the Lynx but has spent most of her pro career in Europe. After three seasons exclusively in Europe, she re-signed with Minnesota last April.

The next step in building the Valkyries is free agency in February. The Valkyries made careful selections in the expansion draft, leaving themselves plenty of cap space to explore the market. Such stars as Skylar Diggins-Smith, Nneka Ogwumike, Brianna Jones and DeWanna Bonner could be available.

Golden State owns the No. 5, No. 17 and No. 30 selections in the WNBA draft on April 14.

“After finishing the beginning part of our journey,” Nyanin said, “we want to go and get the next athletes that want to put Valkyries across their chest.”