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The Golden State Valkyries' roster has been in flux all season long, which isn't out of the ordinary for an expansion team in its first season. But the trend continued Sunday morning, as the team announced that it waived veteran forward Stephanie Talbot.
Talbot appeared in 16 games for the Valkyries this season, starting in seven of those outings. The former Los Angeles Spark, whom Golden State acquired through the expansion draft, averaged 3.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in 16.8 minutes per game.
Waiving a veteran like Talbot, with a guaranteed salary, might seem like a shock from the outside looking in. However, it was a move that was inevitably necessary in the context of Iliana Rupert.
There were rumors regarding Rupert coming to Golden State this season from EuroBasket, a young and promising French stretch-five. Golden State acquired her rights from the Atlanta Dream in the expansion draft.
However, once Rupert announced her intentions to join the Valkyries on July 15th, per Tom Compayrot of BeBasket, it meant that Golden State would have to make another cut to make room for Rupert. That left Talbot on the hot seat despite being one of the more trusted, stable components of Natalie Nakase's rotation at the beginning of the season.
As Talbot's production began to plateau, other players began producing at a much higher quality, diminishing her playing time. Life happens fast in the WNBA. Last week, Talbot was in the Valkyries starting five versus the Minnesota Lynx. Eight days later, she's on the waiver wire after two straight DNPs in Golden State's last two games.
Ultimately, the decision to waive Talbot can be summarized by two rationales:
- Her skillset as a steady stretch-wing overlapped with players like Monique Billings, Cecilia Zandalasini. Talbot wasn't producing enough to justify playing her over them in those important minutes.
- The Valkyries preferred to retain young and promising talent like Laeticia Amihere, Carla Leite, and Kaitlyn Chen on cost-controlled contracts.
While cutting Talbot will incur a $125,000 cap hit as per her guaranteed 1-year contract, the Valkyries have the cap space to absorb her dead money.
In her stead, the Valkyries will look to integrate yet another player into the fold on the fly. Rupert shows promise with her size and ability to stretch the floor, two things every team needs, especially the Valkyries. Rupert was the Las Vegas Aces' first-round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft, so she's a player Nakase's familiar with. The two were a part of the Aces team that won the 2022 WNBA Finals.
However, Rupert hasn't had the opportunity to live up to the potential many believe she's capable of. She's only played in 37 WNBA games, with a career average of 10.3 minutes per game. But with Nakase and the Valkyries, she'll have a chance to carve out a spot in their rotation.
With Rupert joining Golden State, it's safe to say she'll be the last EuroBasket/overseas addition the Valkyries will have to navigate this season.
