Kayla Thornton. Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Golden State Valkyries announce expansion draft picks

By Adam Gretz | Last updated Dec 6, 2024 9:16 PM ET

The Golden State Valkyries will begin play in 2025 as the WNBA's newest expansion team, and on Friday, we got a glimpse as to what their initial roster will look like as they announced the result of their expansion draft picks.

WNBA teams were allowed to protect six players from their roster, as well as all other players that the team has rights to. The protection lists were not released publicly, which is a major change from the way other professional sports leagues have handled expansion drafts.

They were allowed to select one player from each team, as well as one free agent that could become declared a "core player."

Here are the 11 players the Valkyries selected.

Introducing your first-ever Golden State Valkyries. This is just the beginning of our journey.

Expansion Draft presented by @CarMax. pic.twitter.com/8WU5mOYGRy
— Golden State Valkyries (@wnbagoldenstate) December 7, 2024

Here is the full breakdown by position and the team each player was selected from.

Atlanta Dream: Iliana Rupert, C
Chicago Sky: Maria Conde, F
Connecticut Sun: Veronica Burton, G
Dallas Wings: Carla Leite, PG
Indiana Fever: Temi Fagbenle, C
Las Vegas Aces: Kate Martin, G
Los Angeles Sparks: Stephanie Talbot, F
Minnesota Lynx: Cecilia Zandalasini, F
New York Liberty: Kayla Thornton, F
Phoenix Mercury: Monique Billings, F
Washington Mystics: Julie Vanloo, G

The Valkyries will now have an opportunity to continue building their initial roster in free agency.

They will begin play on May 16 when they host the Los Angeles Sparks.

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on Twitter @AGretz

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