Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin made an unusual draft-day move, selecting Flau’jae Johnson at No. 8 and trading down to the second round, drafting forward Marta Suarez and adding a 2028 second-round pick.
Scott Strazzante/S.F. Chronicle
It was a troubling week for the Golden State Valkyries. Their reputation took a hit, marking the first time anyone got upset about anything they’ve ever done. But just hang on, grumbling skeptics. When the season opens May 8, their intentions will be quite clear.
As fans tried to digest the confusion over drafting heralded LSU guard Flau’jae Johnson and then sending her off to Seattle, they had a right to be perplexed. General manager Ohemaa Nyanin made a series of vague comments that explained nothing, making her look like a substitute teacher taking over a class with zero preparation.
Here’s why it’s going to work: There’s an overwhelming sense that Johnson wouldn’t start for the Valkyries — or even be the first guard off the bench.
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They have nothing short of a dream backcourt, with Veronica Burton emerging into an international person of interest — looking quite comfortable in Team USA’s recent training camps — and recently signed Gabby Williams ranking among the classiest and most versatile guards in the world. Just when people wondered whether the Valkyries would ever join the parade of star-power signings, they landed a slice of perfection.
For the moment, 20-year-old Justė Jocytė (You-stay Yoh-sit-tay) remains stashed overseas, where she’s a full-blown star and engaged in the Euroleague playoffs with Uni Girona CB in Spain. But it won’t be long before the lefty is in training camp, about to show why the Valkyries made her their No. 1 choice in last year’s draft.
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(Williams, Iliana Rupert, Ceci Zandalasini and Kaila Charles are also involved in the Euroleague‘s season-ending play, explaining why several fill-in players have been brought into camp.)
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Seasoned analysts have compared Jocytė to longtime NBA standout Goran Dragic, darting about the court with hard-driving skills, clever passing, a sweet shooting touch and the presence of a natural scorer — which she has been since the age of 15.
As a mainstay of the French national team, Williams is quite familiar with Jocytė and thrilled to be a teammate. “I’m happy I can be there for her, because she’s going to be one of the best players in the league,” Williams said in an interview with French television. “I saw that potential early on, and I’ve been saying it for years.”
There’s no doubt that Johnson has the potential for WNBA greatness. She plays tough defense and can score with a flourish, including from 3-point range. But LSU was a team built to win the NCAA championship, and if Johnson had shown a bit more consistency on the court, it just might have happened. (The Tigers lost to Duke in the tournament’s Sweet 16.) Johnson is also a global celebrity, already a millionaire as she blends fashion, musical skills and endorsements (by the dozens) into a delightful package certain to sell tickets, especially among families with admiring kids.
Valkyries rookie Marta Suarez, a 6-3 forward from TCU who spent two seasons at Cal, answers questions during her introductory news conference in Oakland on Friday.
Yalonda M. James/S.F. Chronicle
It’s just that the Valkyries don’t need to sell tickets — they’re likely to be sold-out all season — and they tend to fancy the charms of all-for-one sisterhood. Of course they would have welcomed Johnson onto the roster, and it’s likely she’s worth a lot more than Marta Suarez and a second-round pick that’s two years away. But let’s watch Suarez, a tough-minded, do-it-all forward who would have landed elsewhere in the first round, before laying that judgment down.
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Johnson now has the pleasure of joining the most gifted front line in WNBA history: 6-foot-6 sensation Dominique Malonga, 6-4 Ezi Magbegor (third in voting for the Defensive Player of the Year in 2024) and 6-4 Awa Fam, the Spanish center who could easily have been the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. The Storm couldn’t believe their good fortune drafting third, and as new coach Sonia Raman told reporters, “I don’t know if we’ve seen this type of a frontcourt.”
Not in the WNBA, that’s for sure. This group could blow its upside ceiling through the roof. Now Johnson shows up just in time, with all five of last year’s starters — Williams, Skylar Diggins, Brittney Sykes, Erica Wheeler and Nneka Ogwumike — heading elsewhere in the offseason.
It says here, meanwhile, that the critics have erroneously tapped Golden State as a team in dire need of shooting. Granted, it doesn’t measure up to New York (Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, Satou Sabally), Indiana (Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell), Dallas (Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, Arike Ogunbowale) or Las Vegas (A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, Jewell Loyd). But the Valkyries, already familiar with the playoffs, are loaded with potential.
However, a couple of Golden State forwards, Zandalasini and All-Rookie selection Janelle Salaün, combined for five 20-point-plus games as they got comfortable in the offense. Rupert became a serious 3-point threat with performances of 4-for-5, 4-for-4, 5-for-9 and 5-for-8. Kayla Thornton was an All-Star with a deep shooting bag, and as Suarez became a go-to target for guard Olivia Miles at TCU, she had regular-season games of 26, 27 and 32 points before pouring in 33 in a tournament victory over Virginia.
So those fears the Valkyries can’t score might go unrealized, thanks to the talent already on the roster.
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Around the WNBA
• Las Vegas will have another big-time threat if recently signed Chennedy Carter stays out of trouble — locker-room issues have kept her in and out of the league for years — and performs like the player called “the most talented in our league” by respected coach Teresa Weatherspoon. You might remember Carter for an ugly shoulder-slam on Clark almost two years ago, and you might notice that she has played professionally in China, Israel, Mexico, Poland and Turkey during episodes of WNBA banishment, along with stops in Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles. The truth at hand is that she’s unstoppable on the drive and has every shot in the book.
• Angel Reese had plenty of reasons to get out of Chicago and escape its blundering ownership, and she landed nicely in Atlanta with Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, Brionna Jones, Jordin Canada, Naz Hillmon and intriguing draft choice Madina Okot from South Carolina. Credit Chicago with an impressive rebuild, drafting UCLA star Gabriela Jaquez while acquiring Diggins, Azura Stevens, Rickea Jackson, Jacy Sheldon and DiJonai Carrington.
• It got a little awkward between Caitlin Clark and Raven Johnson when Iowa met South Carolina in the 2023 tournament semifinals. The Hawkeyes didn’t bother to guard Johnson when she held the ball from distance and Clark literally waved her off, dismissively, at one point. Johnson said she got so much “bashing and bullying” on social media in the aftermath, she almost quit the game.
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South Carolina evened the score in the 2024 title game, ending Clark’s collegiate career and unveiling Johnson as a much-improved shooter. There was no clear tension between the two, and now Johnson finds herself with Indiana as the 10th overall pick in the draft. Johnson is an exceptional defender, Clark’s talent speaks for itself, and when you hear these high-character women saying all the right things — sincerely — you get the feeling it’s going to end well.
Bruce Jenkins writes the 3-Dot Lounge for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: jenksurf@gmail.com; Twitter: @Bruce_Jenkins1