SAN FRANCISCO– With the loaded WNBA offseason underway, the Golden State Valkyries have taken an expected hit to their depth after the 2026 Expansion Draft between the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo. The Valkyries will lose 21-year-old guard Carla Leite to the Fire after a promising season with the team last season.
Leite played 37 games for the Valkyries last season, starting in six of them, and averaged 7.2 points, 2.0 assists, on 38.7% shooting in 17.2 minutes per game. After back injury issues kept her limited early in the season, Leite came on strong to close the season, becoming one of coach Natalie Nakase's change-of-pace sixth woman off the bench.
As a result, Leite became a fan-favorite of the raucous Valkyries fanbase, with many believing she could be a big part of the future with her youth, her team-controlled contract, and the promise she showed on the court.
But ultimately, Golden State prioritized protecting their veteran players in the Expansion Draft. With each team only allowed to protect five players, it's likely the Valkyries chose to protect Cecilia Zandalasini or Kayla Thornton, two veteran wings who, in theory, set up the team to compete right now.
From there, the math becomes simple. The Valkyries had to protect reigning MIP Veronica Burton, keep rising Fench talents Janelle Salaün and Iliana Rupert, and remain committed to their 2025 fifth overall pick Juste Jocyte. So, along with the team, priorizing Zandalasini or Thornton, which left Leite on the board to get picked off by Portland.
Golden State will also lose Spanish forward Maria Conde to Toronto. The Valkyries selected Conde in the expansion draft last season, but an Achilles injury prevented her from joining the team altogether.
What's next for the Valkyries?
It's also possible that the Valkyries left Thornton unprotected. Each team was only allowed to draft one unrestricted free agent. And given Thornton coming off a torn ACL and her age, along with other intriguing UFA's available, it seemed unlikely for either expansion team to spend their one slot UFA player on Thornton.
That still means they probably chose to protect Zandalasini. As a top-tier pick in many projected expansion drafts, it's unlikely the Fire and Tempo decided to pass on Zandalasini. And that ultimately left Leite on the outside looking in on the Valkyries' protected list.
Regardless, Leite will head to Portland to reunite with the Valkyries' former Vice President of Basketball Operations, Vanja Černivec, who is now the general manager of the Fire. Černivec was a big reason behind Golden State's direction toward acquiring European players last season. Leite, who is from France, was a big part of that roster construction strategy.
As for the Valkyries, the next up is free agency. With nearly 80% of the league in free agency, Golden State is looking to make a big splash this offseason, with the hopes of landing a superstar to pair with Nakase and Burton.
But while that may be the goal this free agency, they have a lot of players they still have to take care of. Only Kate Martin remains rostered, meaning they have to ink Burton and the rest of the players they protected and fill out the rest of the roster.
They'll have to decide if they want to bring back players like Tiffany Hayes, Temi Fagbenle, and Monique Billings while also balancing going big game hunting.
