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Per the Golden State Valkyries, four players have signed contracts with the new expansion franchise in the Bay Area: Julie Vanloo, Monique Billings, Kayla Thornton, and Veronica Burton. 11 players were selected in this past December’s expansion draft to join the new Bay Area team. The Valkyries, led by head coach Natalie Nakase and general manager Ohemaa Nyanin, will make their regular season debut on May 16 at Chase Center against the Los Angeles Sparks.
Monique Billings
After her selection in the expansion draft, Billings did not receive the core designation, but still came to terms on a contract with the Valkyries as an unrestricted free agent and became the first official signing in franchise history. According to Richard Cohen of Her Hoops Stats, Billings signed a one-year, guaranteed contract at approximately $110,000 with the Valkyries. This upcoming season will mark her eighth in the WNBA. A second-round draft pick in 2018, Billings spent the first six seasons of her career with the Atlanta Dream.
Last offseason, Billings signed a deal with the Sparks, but was waived before the start of the regular season. She soon signed a hardship contract with the Dallas Wings in May, but was then released in August. Billings was a positive contributor for the Wings in trying to help the team stay afloat despite injuries to key players like Satou Sabally, Natasha Howard and Maddy Siegrist. Days later, she signed a seven-day contract with the Phoenix Mercury, and before long she signed another contract to stay for the remainder of the season. Billings appeared in 24 games with the Wings, and 13 games with the Mercury.
Last season, between the Wings and Mercury, Billings averaged a combined 7.4 points per game (PPG), 5.8 rebound per game (RPG), and 1.4 assists per game (APG) in 22.8 minutes per game (MPG).
With her solid rebounding ability and impactful presence in the interior, Golden State will look for Billings to provide veteran experience and a spark for the team, as the franchise kicks off its inaugural season in May.
Kayla Thornton
Per Her Hoops Stats, Thornton has signed a one-year, guaranteed contract at $112,000 with the Valkyries. She’s coming off a championship season with the New York Liberty where she was the team’s top defender off the bench. Thornton averaged 5.5 PPG and 2.6 RPG, while shooting 37.9 percent from the field and 35.7 percent beyond the arc.
Thornton has always been a strong defender and a reliable three-and-D player. Her most notable years were with the Dallas Wings where the roster versatility allowed her to fill in the gaps and clean up the glass as the team’s small forward. With the Liberty, she claimed a similar role co-leading the second unit with Courtney Vandersloot and/or Betnijah Laney.
The Valkyries can expect a gritty defender and calming locker room voice from Thornton. She’s always looking to help her team be in a position to win, and knows how to remain present and level headed in tough moments. Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb spoke highly of Thornton after the expansion draft, speaking to her contributions on and off the court.
“It is incredibly difficult to say goodbye to a player like KT who contributed to the New York Liberty in so many ways over these past two years, including our franchise’s first-ever championship,” Kolb said.
“KT quickly became an indelible part of the Liberty family during her two seasons here. We look forward to celebrating her on May 27 during her return to Barclays Center with open arms where she’ll receive her well-earned championship ring.”
Julie Vanloo
Vanloo is looking to build off of her rookie season, one in which she played in all 40 games – starting in 34 – averaging 7.4 PPG and 4.3 APG in 23.2 MPG for the Washington Mystics.
Vanloo, 31, signed a training camp contract with the Valkyries, which means the contract is for one year, unguaranteed, and at the player’s applicable minimum salary, per Richard Cohen of Her Hoops Stats. This type of contract gives players and teams flexibility in case international players don’t report or if team’s need cap-friendly deals
During the 2024 Olympic break, Vanloo was a standout player for Belgium, averaging 33.3 minutes per game with 11.3 points and 5.7 assists – both numbers up significantly from the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Julie Vanloo’s overhead dime finds Aaliyah Edwards to chart No. 7 on the countdown 😮💨#WNBAassistsweek pic.twitter.com/39jAl2aUIp
— WNBA (@WNBA) November 5, 2024
Vanloo plays with a lot of flare in her game, whether it’s flashy passes or incredible three-point shots, and can be a defensive pest for opponents to deal with.
Vanloo is older for a second-year player, but her international experience makes her more seasoned than your typical sophomore. The speed of the WNBA game wasn’t an issue for her in her last season, as she really shined and became more of an offensive focal point for Washington leading up to the Olympics.
Veronica Burton
Burton, who signed a training camp contract—similar to Vanloo—with Golden State, will enter her fourth year in the league after being selected seventh overall in the 2022 draft by the Dallas Wings. She played two seasons with the Wings before the team waived her at the start of the 2024 season. She then proceeded to sign a contract with the Connecticut Sun for the remainder of 2024.
This past season in Connecticut, Burton averaged 3.1 PPG, 1.9 APG, and 1.4 RPG in 12.7 MPG across 31 regular season games.
As she is now under contract with the team, the Valkyries should look forward to watching Burton provide her ball handling experience and tenacious defense for the new team in the Bay Area. While Burton still has room to grow in this league, residing in Golden State is the perfect opportunity for her development. She’ll have Nakase to mentor under, who has championship coaching experience. Burton and Vanloo in the backcourt have the potential to showcase pesky defense and dazzling passes to teammates.
Golden State has not made any signings or trades for star players during free agency so far, as they might have hoped, but the signings of Billings, Thornton, Burton, and Vanloo mark not only the dawn of a new franchise, but the start of what should be a tough, defensive-minded group on the floor. The beginning of the offseason has allowed the Valkyries to begin their initial examinations of the roster, along with the players they wish to keep from their expansion draft selections. With a primary structure established, the team can shift to searching for additions as we get closer to the draft, training camp and preseason action.
