The WNBA is expanding as its popularity grows higher than it has ever been, and the league will add one team in 2025. The Golden State Valkyries will play their inaugural season this coming summer in the Bay Area and have already drafted their expansion team.
The Valkyries' roster isn't quite complete despite the expansion draft and the free agency period already being in the rearview mirror. The WNBA Draft is coming up on Monday, and the Valkyries will get to make their first pick in franchise history at No. 5 overall.
Of course, it's hard to get a true blue-chip player with the No. 5 overall pick in any draft, but it will be especially difficult in this WNBA Draft that is highlighted by UConn superstar Paige Bueckers as the only sure thing.
The Valkyries don't seem to mind. General manager Ohemaa Nyanin shed some light on the draft strategy for the team, and it doesn't include any drastic moves to reach for the stars, via ESPN's Kendra Andrews.
“We aren't looking for the face of our franchise just yet,” Nyanin said on Friday, per Andrews. “We need to build our identity and throughout the season, hopefully, the face of the franchise emerges … I want it to be an organic process … who is going to earn it? I don't want it to just be given to anybody.
“I genuinely believe that if you work really hard at [becoming the face of a franchise], then you don't mismanage it once it's been given to you.”
The Valkyries are, by all accounts, taking a smart and measured approach to building their team. In the expansion draft, they selected a good mix of young pieces and veterans who can give the team a strong foundation to build on in 2025.
While the Valkyries will probably have one of the worst teams in the WNBA next season purely due to a lack of star talent up and down the roster, it is clear that they are built on the right stuff and will be able to build this thing from the ground up in the coming years. When they do eventually land that franchise player, watch out.