Meet the 11 WNBA players the Golden State Valkyries selected in the expansion draft
The inaugural team is headlined by Kate Martin, Temi Fagbenle, Veronica Burton, Monique Billings, and several other key WNBA rotation players.
The picks are in! The Golden State Valkyries — the WNBA’s newest team — has made their official expansion draft selections, with 11 players being picked.
Each existing WNBA team was able to protect six players from their roster, and the Valkyries subsequently selected one unprotected player from each team (with the exception of the Seattle Storm).
Here’s the full list of players who were selected, and will thus make up the inaugural Valkyries roster:
Monique Billings, forward, Phoenix Mercury
Career stats: 6.2 points, 5.8 rebounds in 19.4 minutes per game
2024 stats: 87.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists in 22.8 minutes per game
Julie Vanloo, guard, Washington Mystics
2024 stats: 7.4 points (34.6% shooting, 32.45 from three), 4.2 assists
Kate Martin, guard, Las Vegas Aces
2024 stats: 2.6 points, 1.6 rebounds in 11.5 minutes
Kayla Thornton, forward, New York Liberty
Career stats: 7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists in 23.5 minutes per game
2024 stats: 5.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, 0.7 assists in 20 minutes per game
Carla Leite, Dallas Wings
Career stats: N/A
Note: At just 20 years old, Carla Leite is an elite French prospect. Whether or not she’ll make the move to the U.S. remains to be seen, but it’s undeniable that Leite has enormous potential.
Iliana Rupert, Atlanta Dream
Career stats: 2.7 points (42% shooting, 33.3% from three), 2.1 rebounds
2024 stats: N/A (sat out to prepare for Olympics)
Rupert didn’t play in the WNBA during the 2024 season, but she does have two years of WNBA experience, playing for the Las Vegas Aces in 2022 and the Atlanta Dream in 2023. In her 2022 stint, she won a championship with the Aces alongside Natalie Nakase, who was an assistant coach at the time.
Maria Conde, Chicago Sky
Career stats: N/A
Note: Conde hasn’t played in the WNBA yet, but she’s an elite European prospect that the Valkyries will have the rights to moving forward. The Sky drafted Conde as the No. 27 overall pick in the 2019 Draft. She currently plays for ZVVZ USK Praha and was recently named EuroLeague MVP in November.
Temi Fagbenle, Indiana Fever
Career stats: 3.9 points (51% shooting), 2.6 rebounds in 11.6 minutes
2024 stats: 6.4 points (50.9% shooting), 4.7 rebounds in 18.9 minutes
Veronica Burton, Connecticut Sun
Career stats: 2.7 points (36.1%), 1.6 rebounds, 2 assists in 14 minutes
2024 stats: 3.1 points (32.6%), 1.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists in 12.7 minutes
Stephanie Talbot, Los Angeles Sparks
Career stats: 4.6 points (43% FG, 36% from three), 2.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists in 16.6 minutes 2024 stats: 3.5 points (39.5% FG, 26% from three), 2.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists in 16.2 minutes
Cecilia Zandalasini, Minnesota Lynx
Career stats: 4.9 points (42.9% FG, 41.5% from three), 1.4 rebounds, 1 assist in 13.7 minutes 2024 stats: 4.6 points (45.3% FG, 44.3% from three), 1.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists in 12.2 minutes