On December 6, the Golden State Valkyries held their expansion draft, and the results could be described as underwhelming: expansion drafts usually are not that fascinating, and there’s no guarantee that any of the players selected from the rosters of other WNBA teams will be on the Opening Day roster for the Valkyries when their inaugural season begins on May 16. However, we want to cover the team fairly, so here we go.

Our analyses is basically sabermetric, and the players’ former teams are listed below, too:

  • Iliana Rupert (Atlanta Dream): A center, she was the No. 12 overall pick in the 2021 Draft by Las Vegas. She has only played in 37 WNBA games since then, however, including none in 2024. The upcoming season will be her age-23 season, though, so the raw talent is there for GSV to work with.
  • Maria Conde (Chicago Sky): She has never played in the WNBA after being a third rounder in 2019 for the Chicago Sky. If she plays next year, it would be her age-28 season, so she’s certainly got some physical experience to rely on if nothing else. A forward, she played in college with Florida State.
  • Veronica Burton (Connecticut Sun): She will entering her age-24 season with GSV, after averaging 14.o minutes-per-game over the prior three seasons in 107 games combined with the Dallas Wings and the Sun. She was the No. 7 overall pick by Dallas in 2022 after playing her college ball at Northwestern.
  • Carla Leite (Dallas Wings): Speaking of the Wings, this guard was their No. 9 overall pick in 2024, although she didn’t play a game in the WNBA last season. She is French and still may not come over to the US any time soon, despite having talent and being just in her age-20 season come 2025.
  • Temi Fagbenle (Indiana Fever): Entering her age-32 season, this center hasn’t played much in the WNBA—just 91 games since being drafted in the third round by Minnesota in 2016. She did average 6.4 ppg and 4.7 rpg in 18.9 mpg last year in Indiana, though, so she could improve on those numbers.
  • Kate Martin (Las Vegas Aces): A college teammate of Caitlin Clark at Iowa, this guard was drafted in the second round by the Aces last year. She didn’t play a lot in her rookie year, and she will be in her age-25 season for GSV next year. She barely shot 30 percent from the floor in limited 2024 action.
  • Stephanie Talbot (Los Angeles Sparks): She will be an age-31 forward in 2025, after playing in just 199 career WNBA games since being drafted in the third round by Phoenix in 2014. She played in 37 games last season for the Sparks, the most she’s ever played in one season. She’s averaged just 4.6 ppg overall.
  • Cecilia Zandalasini (Minnesota Lynx): An undrafted international forward, she has 72 career WNBA games on her record since 2017—with 40 of those games coming in 2024. She will be in her age-29 season next summer, having put up 4.6 ppg last year in 12.2 mpg. She doesn’t have a lot of experience.
  • Kayla Thornton (New York Liberty): An undrafted forward out of UTEP, she enters her age-32 WNBA season with a lot of games under her belt (274). She has started 143 WNBA games, although she started only 11 in the last two seasons combined with New York. She’s averaged just 18.8 mpg in 2023-2024.
  • Monique Billings (Phoenix Mercury): A second rounder in 2018 by the Atlanta Dream out of UCLA, this age-29 forward played 22.8 mpg last season splitting time between Dallas and Phoenix. She put up 8.8 ppg and 6.6 rpg in Dallas before her trade to the Mercury, so she could get a lot of floor time.
  • Julie Vanloo (Washington Mystics): An age-32 guard from Belgium, last year was her first in the WNBA. She put up 4.3 apg in 23.2 mpg without much scoring efficiency, but she could end up starting at point for the Valkyries based on her international experience. But how much is left in her tank?

As the WNBA notes, four players on this expansion-draft roster have won a WNBA championship: Fagbenle and Zandalasini with Minnesota in 2017; Rupert with Las Vegas in 2022; and Thornton with New York in 2024. Seven international players—Conde (Spain), Fagbenle (United Kingdom), Leite (France), Rupert (France), Talbot (Australia), Vanloo (Belgium), and Zandalasini (Italy). However, this is a weak roster, obvi.

Can we even project a starting five out of this bunch? Let’s put Fagbenle at center, to begin with, and then fill in the frontcourt with Billings and maybe Zandalasini. The backcourt needs steady hands, so Vanloo and maybe Burton. The potential is there, of course, and there will be some draft picks to add to the fray—in addition to some free-agent signings for competition. But it doesn’t suggest a lot of success in Season One.

And that’s fine: no one expects a Vegas Golden Knights result in 2025. However, we like the odds on this team finishing with the worst record in the WNBA right away. That won’t hurt the team’s fan base, though, as the patience will be there for a few years, at least. But if this franchise is not competitive by 2028 or so, we know the bandwagon nature of Bay Area sports fans: it will get ugly if there are no titles by 2030.