What does WNBA expansion draft mean for Sky?

Rules for the Golden State expansion draft have been made official, and the path forward for the Sky looks fairly unobstructed.

The draft, held on Dec. 6, will allow the Valkyries to select from a designated pool of players made available by all 12 WNBA teams. Approximately 10 days before the expansion draft, all 12 teams will have to submit a roster to league offices that includes every player whose rights they control. That roster will include six players designated as protected. Every other player on the roster will be fair game for the Valkyries to select in the draft.

The Sky will have three guaranteed protections: Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso and Elizabeth Williams. Their three remaining protected players likely will be Chennedy Carter, Dana Evans and Rachel Banham. However, Sky general manager Jeff Pagliocca could opt to protect Michaela Onyenwere over one of these three guards.

The decision of whom to protect will come down to conversations had with the Sky’s front office, the players and also their new head coach.

At this point, protecting Carter and Evans comes down to maintaining control of their rights even if there’s no plan to re-sign them in free agency. Both will be restricted free agents in the new year meaning the Sky will have the right of first refusal. What Pagliocca could end up doing is using them in a potential sign and trade.

If the Valkyries select a player in the expansion draft who is not signed to a contract for the 2025 season they will receive the rights to that player that their existing team would have had. For example, if Carter or Evans are made available in the expansion draft and subsequently selected by Golden State, they will still be restricted free agents. This would give the Valkryies right of first refusal in free agency.

The Valkyries will only be allowed to select one player in the expansion draft eligible to become an unrestricted free agent. They are able to select such a player so long as that player has not previously been cored for two or more seasons. The core designation gives a team exclusive rights to negotiate with a player, similar to the NFL’s franchise tag. If the Valkyries select an unrestricted free agent, they are permitted to use the core designation.

Sky players set to become unrestricted free agents are Isabelle Harrison, Brianna Turner and Diamond DeShields. The Valkyries could tag any of these three players if they chose to because none of them have been previously cored.

The Valkyries also will be permitted to execute trades with any of the 12 existing teams between the time roster lists are submitted and Dec. 5. This could include selecting a player in the expansion draft with the agreement to trade them to another team.

The Nov. 26 deadline for submitting roster lists to the league puts the Sky on a strict timeline for making a coaching hire. At this point it’s expected that there will be more coaching vacancies by the end of the WNBA postseason, according to multiple league sources. This makes it unlikely that the Sky will heavily consider any candidate before then.

However, Curt Miller will be on the Sky’s list of potential candidates. Other potential candidates could include Pacers assistant coach Jenny Boucek and Aces assistant Natalie Nakase.