2025 WNBA Expansion Draft: Assessing The Golden State Valkyries

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After the first Expansion Draft in over 15 years, the Golden State Valkyries now have a roster identity and basis for which to launch their franchise! The Draft is what speaks to me, an incredibly fun process in scouting and thinking while factoring in a multitude of aspects to build the best team. The Expansion takes that to the max and lights it on fire.

Talent is the first place most people go when thinking about the Draft, and likewise with the Expansion. That makes sense! Talent is important!

However, I think this is such a different process, at least in my mind. You need a strong foundation of talent and potential, but building a locker room, culture, and on/off court identity from scratch… that’s not easy. When factoring in that you don’t have anything to go off of in history or tradition as an organization either, that makes things even more difficult. 

From what I know and have seen, I feel this is going to be a first class organization, but again, it’s just a different kind of launching point, even from a new group taking over in a total rebuild for a franchise.

What stands out in their approach thus far?

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Worldwide Valks

It was well noted last night that the Valkyries veered heavily into drafting international players, and I like it for a multitude of reasons. First and foremost, Golden State brought in talented players. Without being able to know the full list of available players, I’d be pretty happy with the talent this group was able to acquire, acknowledging that minimal star power was going to be unprotected in the immediate or in potential.

The talent is key, but I also really love the flexibility that could provide now and in the future as well. Acquiring the rights to players with value ahead of the CBA change, which will most definitely make it more worthwhile for international players to come to the W, is huge. I look at the teams like New York and Minnesota that were able to make some key margin moves A. by trading these rights B. by being able to bring players over that other teams had been unable to… that’s huge!

The majority of the W have let international players go a bit underlooked, and it’s a key area for this league to get better, especially knowing what’s coming in the future. Look at Connecticut: Rachid Meziane is a hell of a coach with a world of experience and connections in Europe. Darius Taylor has greatly expanded the reach and knowledge of the team outside the United States. While the Sun will almost certainly be unrecognizable on the court in 2025, it stands out how that organization has pivoted to put the international game at the forefront.

I say all that to point out that Golden State’s commitment to do the same is notable. Vanja Cernivec did phenomenal work with the London Lions overseas, and it was pretty clear when she was hired by the Valkyries what they had in mind for approach. We’re seeing that come to fruition now.

Maria Conde’s Impact

When the Valkyries selected the rights to Maria Conde, I was immediately excited. Conde has long been a productive and impactful player overseas, putting together one of the best years of her career at present. 

While she’s never come over to the WNBA, her selection made me question, would she now with a new opportunity?

I don’t have any details or information on that, but I strongly recommend reading this reporting from (and following) Luis Vallejo.

I think this roster could be quite competitive early, built on length, athleticism, playmaking, and defensive versatility. Free agency will of course be most key in taking this team from potentially scrappy to a legitimate playoff threat.

But, if Conde were to come over, that changes thing in my eyes. I feel she’s a starting level player in the right system, someone who I think would thrive and play some of her best basketball for Natalie Nakase. A true wing player that can shoot on volume and off a multitude of actions, Conde is also a high level playmaker with size, capable of making crafty reads and proactive passes from all areas of the court. She’d be a boon in transition on and off the ball, and opening up the second side of an offense. Out of all the players taken on Friday, Conde is the player that could have the biggest swing on the 2025 WNBA season.

Carla Leite’s Upside

I like adding Leite, a guard with upside, recently a first round pick, and someone that can add to the upside of this franchise. Whether or not that means via trade or by making an impact on court for the Valkyries in the future, having the ability to be flexible with her rights is a really nice addition.

As a player, Leite has a bursty first step, a very heady downhill driver. She generates pressure on the rim at a high level, works well in pick and roll, is adept out of pistol actions and handoffs/fakes on the sidelines… she does a great deal that can lift up a lot of aspects of ball screen offense. I personally view her more as a combo guard than a true point, with the athleticism and tools to create advantages, but her playmaking reads and vision will put a staunch demand on her scoring gravity if she were to become a lead operator.

She has the potential to become a three-level scorer, but the consistency will be worth tracking. After a down shooting season last year, Leite has shot the ball quite well from beyond the arc this season (38.9%). Leite is great at getting to the rim as mentioned earlier, drawing free throws at a very high level, but she’s a pretty poor finisher at this stage. She does a lot of great work setting up her screens and defenders with hesitations and dribble combos, but once she hits the gas, she doesn’t have much pacing or tempo change yet. That’s something that can, and likely will, come with time.

All of this is to dive into the question of whether or not she’s ready to play in the W? 

I think she could earn a role on the Valks if she came over, but likely as a backup. That’s not a bad thing at all, but just always brings into question, what does this look like when you’re playing 12-15 minutes and maybe don’t have a ton of room for error?

It’s hard to be a young player with youthful inconsistencies at the WNBA level. Jade Melbounre was phenomenal in the WNBL prior to the 2024 WNBA season, and showed signs of growth on a developing Mystics team. That’s more in line with where I’d view Leite right now role wise if she were to come over.

Iliana Rupert on the Rise

When I was going through and doing my own assessment on which 6 I would keep for each team in the W, the teams I struggled most with were the New York Liberty, Minnesota Lynx, and Atlanta Dream. The first two teams made sense, with deep rosters coming off a WNBA Finals appearance.

While the Dream had a rough season considering expectations, there’s a lot here, particularly when looking ahead to implementing a new system. I routinely went back and forth in my head with Rupert as either the last player protected, or the first one left unprotected. Considering how many overseas players the Dream took in 2024, with two Aussies that I anticipate becoming rotation players in the league, this must not have been a simple choice for Atlanta.

This decision undoubtedly becomes all the more complicated given that Rupert is putting together a career season for Mersin, averaging 17 points per game, seeing the green light as a shooter, and playing with confidence every single game. She won’t turn 24 until midway through the 2025 WNBA season, and that matters.

Rupert has already played in the league putting together quality flashes as a rookie with the Aces, but saw a more limited spot role with the Dream the following year.

It’s worth noting that Rupert played for Nakase with the Aces, and I have no doubt that had some influence in the pick. I’d love to know how Nakase has viewed her growth and development, and what she sees for Rupert in the coming year.

That’s generally been my biggest question with Rupert: How do you best utilize her?

She’s remarkably skilled and talented. She has size, a good feel for the game, can stretch the floor, is fairly mobile and light on her feet. What position she is best optimized at is more of a question to me though. Roster build and surrounding talent is of course always key, but Rupert is kind of a tweener at the 4 and 5 in my opinion, having the skill of a 4, but more of a 5 physically. However, I do think she’s a bit less comfortable playing with physicality at the 5. That’s not the end all be all, but again, how do you optimize?

She’s the kind of player I could’ve seen really working in a place like Connecticut in their past iteration, playing more of that inverted offense with Chin to utilize her passing ability, shooting ability, and open things up for dynamic drivers and cutting lanes in a well-spaced offense. Defensively, I think you need to play pretty aggressively to get the most out of her. She has good hands and can play in a more blitz heavy system (like most French bigs, given that’s what you’re taught throughout the Federation come up) but that’s also something I feel is going to become harder and harder to play as a base coverage in the WNBA given how good some of the guards are getting at handling hedges and manipulating the low man.

But again, if we go just off of who the Valkyries selected yesterday, I see the vision. Temi Fagbenle (also connected to Vanja Cernivec due to her time in London) and Monique Billings (who is an unrestricted free agent) if they both are in Golden State, bring the athleticism of players who aren’t true posts, phenomenal at running the floor. Yet, they both bring some physicality at that spot where Rupert perhaps lacks it. You could get pretty creative mixing and matching those three in the frontcourt with the wings and guards on this roster at present, and that could bode well for Rupert.

She has the potential to be a starter in the WNBA, and I’d love to see that unlocked with creativity in roster and scheme.

Notes

• Kayla Thornton was a great get for the Valkyries, and a tough loss for New York. She was a game changer in the final game of the postseason with her energy and tenacity, a 100th percentile motor and effort player. She just makes plays consistently, has grown steadily as an offensive player the past few seasons, and seems a likely starter for Golden State.

• I’m a fan of the backcourt duo of Veronica Burton and Julie Vanloo. Vanloo is more of a combo, capable of playing on and off the ball, and a savvy creator out of pick and roll She thrives as a shotmaker from deep and creative playmaker. She can run point or play off of Burton as well, who is such a steady facilitator and one of the better defensive guards in the WNBA. Continuing to grow as a scorer and shooter will be key for Burton’s development, but she already has such a high baseline of play, and proved that on a good team last season.

• I already talked about Billings and Fagbenle, but do want to bring Temi up again. I’m really interested in Indiana letting Temi go unprotected. I don’t want to make a rash opinion, because they could well have something in store in free agency or via trade that makes this make more sense. I would posit, however, that players like Temi are not nearly as easy to find as people make it out to be, part of why I loved Golden State picking her up. She can rim run on offense, is a force in transition, versatile on defense, and is a perfect big to have in a high pace offense that will operate a ton out of screen and roll. Having players that are roll threats and threats in the dunker spot is as impactful to spacing as a solid shooter.

• Cecilia Zandalasini rocks. She keeps plays alive with her movement, decision-making, and shooting ability while bringing length on defense. Absolutely a player I’d take a shot on that has shown already that she can impact winning and play a role on a good team.

• Steph Talbot and Kate Martin can both shoot, keep plays alive with ball movement, drive closeouts, and fit into an offense. Taking on a rookie contract in Martin is also a big deal for the Valkyries in having maximal room to work with in free agency and keeping a player in house that they can develop who already has a connection with Nakase.