Kate Martin, Stephanie Talbot, Kayla Thornton, Cecilia Zandalasini Among The Players Drafted To The Valkyries

The Golden State Valkyries have announced the team’s WNBA Expansion Draft selections, presented by CarMax, the first step in building out its inaugural roster ahead of the 2025 WNBA season. The selection announcements took place on Friday, December 6, at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and were announced by Bay Area celebrities Michelle Wie West, E-40 and Baron Davis. Golden State had the opportunity to select one player from each of the 12 current WNBA teams. The list of players selected includes: Iliana Rupert (Atlanta Dream), María Conde (Chicago Sky), Veronica Burton (Connecticut Sun), Carla Leite (Dallas Wings), Temi Fagbenle (Indiana Fever), Kate Martin (Las Vegas Aces), Stephanie Talbot (Los Angeles Sparks), Cecilia Zandalasini (Minnesota Lynx), Kayla Thornton (New York Liberty), Monique Billings (Phoenix Mercury), and Julie Vanloo (Washington Mystics). For more information on each of the Valkyries Expansion Draft selections, please click HERE.

"We are excited to have officially started the journey of building the Golden State Valkyries 2025 team,” said General Manager Ohemaa Nyanin. “Our goal was to construct a roster that embodies both versatility and depth, bringing in a strong mix of leadership, defense, and scoring ability. These players were carefully chosen not only for their skills on the court, but also for their ability to fit into the culture we’re working to build here at Golden State.”

With the Expansion Draft, presented by CarMax, now complete, the Valkyries will continue to build their roster through WNBA Free Agency in early 2025. Additionally, the team currently owns the 5^th, 17^th, and 30^th selections in the 2025 WNBA Draft presented by State Farm.

In advance of the Expansion Draft, presented by CarMax, each of the existing teams were required to submit to the WNBA a roster list that includes every player to whom the team had rights and were required to designate a maximum of six “Protected Players” who were not available for selection at the Expansion Draft. Golden State had the opportunity to acquire the player contract of, or the negotiating rights to, one available player from each of the current 12 teams, but were not required to choose a player from every team.

The Valkyries Expansion Draft selections are below: