The details for the Golden State Valkyries’ WNBA Expansion Draft were announced on Monday.
Among the most important notes are that the Draft will commence on December 6, that all 12 current WNBA teams will get to protect six players on their active roster, and that the Valkyries will select one non-protected player from each team. Also of note is that the Valkyries can only select one player who will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
With this in mind, we’ve decided to conduct a hypothetical Expansion Draft for the Valkyries, predicting which of the non-protected (also hypothetical) players the Valkyries will select on December 6. We’ll also project their first-round pick of the 2025 WNBA Draft at the end.
While we ultimately have no idea which players will be protected, every player in this projected roster has at least a good chance of being rostered by Golden State. Without further ado, here’s our projected 2025 Valkyries roster.
On the surface, it may seem crazy to think that the Liberty won’t elect to protect Courtney Vandersloot, who has been one of the WNBA’s best point guards for a decade.
But here are the facts: Vandersloot is 35 years old, set to be an unrestricted free agent (meaning she’s the sole UFA we’re predicting Golden State to select), has been removed from New York’s starting lineup, and played over 8 minutes less per game this season than last year. Given how many elite players the Liberty have — Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, and Lionie Fiebich will certainly all be protected — that leaves just one more protectable player.
And Vandersloot would be a great veteran leader for what will likely be a young Valkyries team.
Diamond Miller might be the most talented player the Valkyries land in the Expansion Draft. And while it might also seem absurd for Minnesota to not protect her, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft needs a change of scenery.
Miller has become an afterthought in Minnesota, averaging just 10.1 minutes per game (10th-most on the team) after earning 26.1 minutes per game in 2023. She simply doesn’t seem to be a good fit with the Lynx, and landing with Golden State would be a golden opportunity for the 23-year-old to recover her career.
This one is interesting. If the Sun are confident they can win a championship with their current core (which they absolutely should be), they have four players they’ll almost surely protect: Alyssa Thomas, DiJonai Carrington, Marina Mabrey, and Veronica Burton. DeWanna Bonner and Brionna Jones don’t need to be protected because they’ve spent at least two seasons under core designation.
After that, Connecticut’s next-best player is Nelson-Ododa, who has become a crucial role player this year and is therefore a potential candidate to get protected. But Connecticut could also elect to protect another player like Tiffany Mitchell, who averaged more minutes per game this season than Nelson-Ododa. If this is the case, we could see Nelson-Ododa becoming one of Golden State’s best players next season.
The Valkyries selecting Kate Martin makes sense for multiple reasons. One is that, in this roster prediction, Golden State needs a three-and-D type of player, and Martin fits that bill. She’s also young, has much potential to develop, and is already one of the league’s most popular players.
Plus, (while it’s doubtful anytime soon) what better way to try and lure Caitlin Clark to the Valkyries down the line than by signing her best friend?
While the Valkyries may want to select a Storm player with a higher ceiling, we’re big Nika Muhl fans around here and would love to see her get an opportunity with a new franchise.
The former UConn Husky barely saw any playing time this season as a rookie, and there’s no reason to think that will change next year. Plus, like Kate Martin, Muhl has a massive fanbase. The Valkyries will need to sell tickets. Muhl would help with that.
Not to mention that her joining the Valkyries might mean she’d get reunited with a former UConn teammate, who we’re projecting Golden State to Draft in 2025…
NaLyssa Smith is one of the six most talented players on Indiana’s roster. But with everything that has happened this year, it appears clear that she wants out of Indiana — and the Fever appear happy to oblige by not protecting her.
This is another one that feels obvious, and Smith is a player Golden State would be stoked to have rostered.
This one was tough. The Mercury’s five starters will all certainly be protected, and we expect Monique Billings to be the sixth player chosen. That leaves Taylor and Natasha Mack; both of whom figure to be likely selections for Golden State.
We ultimately went with Taylor — despite her having a very similar playing style to Muhl — because she’s younger and our projected Valkyries roster needs more guards.
This is where it became tougher to predict which players teams will protect; if only because the rosters are less talented.
But because Nia Coffey received the 7th-most minutes per game on Atlanta this season and this Valkyries roster needs a wing player who plays good defense, Coffey fits like a glove.
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