‘Epic day for our franchise’: Golden State Valkyries pick 11 players in expansion draft

SAN FRANCISCO – Golden State Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin, coach Natalie Nakase and owner Joe Lacob began the herculean task of building the Bay Area team’s new WNBA roster on Friday at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. 

The atmosphere before the league’s first expansion draft since 2008 was festive, with power players in women’s basketball mingling with Bay Area luminaries such as E-40 and former Warriors star Baron Davis as excitement built inside the room.

“This is an epic day for our franchise,” Nyanin told the crowd.

It was all business once the draft began as golfer Michelle Wie announced that Atlanta Dream center Iliana Rupert would be the team’s first pick.

The selections were done alphabetically by city name.

The loudest cheers came midway through the draft, when the Valkyries chose second-year forward and fan favorite Kate Martin of the Las Vegas Aces. 

Another player Nakase and Nyanin were thrilled to see left unprotected was Indiana’s 32-year-old forward Temi Fagbenle.

“When I saw her name, I was obviously very excited,” Nakase said “She played very well against us last year when I was with the Aces, and I even made a special defense for her.”

One after another, the picks were made rapid-fire during a 30-minute window on ESPN.

The watershed moment that Nyanin had spent months preparing for was over in fast-break time. The expansion draft was just the first step in the process of building the roster. 

“These are players that are hungry, and players that could have started on other teams,” Nakase said. 

Free agency, potential trades and the league’s draft will all unfold before the Valkyries play their first game on May 16 against the Los Angeles Sparks.

Up next is free agency in February and then the league-wide draft in April.

“We kept going back and forth,” Nyanin said of the pre-draft process. “At the end of the day, we’re thinking about free agency and we’re thinking about the collegiate draft. We want to make sure that we’re putting all the pieces together.”

The WNBA’s other franchises were allowed to protect six players from the expansion draft. The list of unprotected players was not made public. 

Nyanin, who came over from the New York Liberty, said each selection was agonized over. She repeatedly emphasized the front office’s mission to see each player as a person rather than an asset. 

The Valkyries picked one player from 11 of the league’s 12 other teams, electing to pass on choosing anyone from the Seattle Storm. 

Why pass on Seattle’s players? 

“From the human perspective, we didn’t want to pick an athlete just to pick an athlete,” Nyanin said. “We understood the responsibility we had as a team to say that if we picked you and you wanted to play for us, here is an opportunity to come and do that.”

The GM said the team attempted to contact each of the players they were selecting hours before the draft, not wanting to blindside anyone. 

Because of the time differences created by many of the players participating in overseas leagues, that became a logistical challenge. 

“We wanted to make sure that you didn’t hear it first on the ESPN broadcast, especially because the majority of them would be sleeping,” Nyanin said. “We got some really good reactions.”

One of the players who didn’t go abroad during the WNBA offseason is one Nakase knows well.

Martin had made a name for herself at Iowa as a capable defender and three-point shooter next to Caitlin Clark, carving out a role on an elite Aces team this past season as a second-round pick.

Nakase worked with Martin as an assistant coach with the Las Vegas team and couldn’t pass up the chance to bring the wing to the Bay Area.

“I grew to have a very close relationship with her while I was with the Aces,” Nakase said. “She’s a very genuine person, but she’s also a culture changer.”

In an interview on the ESPN broadcast, Martin said, “This league is all about opportunity and you just need one shot. I’m very thankful for the Aces and everything I learned there. But I’m excited for this new beginning and to build something from the ground up in the Bay Area.”

Though the Valkyries could select any unprotected player, they were allowed to choose only one unrestricted free agent among the picks. 

Veteran forward Monique Billings was the free agent the Valkyries picked. She is a 32-year-old who spent six years in Atlanta but played last season in Phoenix, averaging 7.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game as a steady frontcourt presence.

 

Because Billings is playing in China, the massive time difference meant the general manager was not able to make contact with her before the draft. 

“I’m excited to see what her thoughts are,” Nyanin said.

Not every player picked was a proven WNBA commodity. Spanish standout Maria Conde and 20-year-old French guard Carla Leite were left unprotected by Chicago and Dallas, respectively. Neither has played in the league before.

To Nyanin, international experience was just as valuable as WNBA accolades.

“The strategy was to get athletes that fit our culture, and get athletes that have been able to prove themselves day in and day out,” she said.

With Lacob setting the bar high before the draft, the Valkyries aim to be competitive from the start.  

“The goal for the Golden State Valkyries, from the owner and straight from his mouth, is that we would like to win a championship in five years and maybe sooner,” Nakase said.