{"id":176746,"date":"2025-09-23T16:55:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T16:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/176746\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T16:55:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T16:55:16","slug":"the-valkyries-next-move-deciding-which-players-to-keep-next-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/176746\/","title":{"rendered":"The Valkyries\u2019 next move? Deciding which players to keep next season"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As Valkyries players stepped up to the podium for their exit interviews last week, the emotions from a heartbreaking loss at SAP Center still lingered.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just hours before players addressed their uncertain futures, the team had gathered at halfcourt, arms wrapped around one another, as chants of \u201cG-S-V\u201d pulsed through the arena. The fans stayed rooted in their seats, witnessing the closing of the franchise\u2019s first chapter. A one-point loss to the top-seeded Lynx left the Valkyries with a tangle of feelings: the sting of defeat, the pride in all they\u2019d built in just one year, and most of all, gratitude for the journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve become a family through the ups and downs. Stuck together,\u201d said center Temi Fagbenle, who sat out Wednesday in a last-minute decision to nurse a knee injury. \u201cI\u2019m just so proud of how we persevered all season long, through all the injuries, all the changes, and we still were able to make the playoffs, which was a goal of ours and ended with our heads held high.\u201d<\/p>\n

But when the offseason officially began for Golden State, a new feeling crept in to join the mix: uncertainty.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Next year, the Valkyries will no longer be the WNBA\u2019s newest team, as the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo expansion teams are set to join the league for the 2026 season. With a 23-21 finish, a Coach of the Year, and a Most Improved Player honoree all in the first season, the days of being the overlooked underdog are over for Golden State.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Expectations will shift \u2014 but so will just about everything else.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The WNBA and Players Association have yet to come to an agreement for a new collective bargaining agreement, even as the current one expires Oct. 31. That leaves the league\u2019s future revenue-sharing model, roster sizes, and guidelines for the upcoming expansion draft and free agency unknown until a deal is reached.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AKayla Thornton was the Valkyries\u2019 leading scorer when she suffered a season-ending knee injury at the All-Star break. | Source: Erin Ng for The Standard<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just want fair treatment. We want a fair piece of what we\u2019re owed, what we deserve. We are the business. At the end of the day, without the players, you don\u2019t have the business,\u201d Fagbenle, a Valkyries representative to the Players\u2019 Union, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Only two players, Kate Martin and Carla Leite, are under contract for 2026. The rest will join the two-thirds of the WNBA hitting free agency in some form or another this offseason. Unrestricted free agents include Fagbenle, Tiffany Hayes, Kaila Charles, Monique Billings, and Kayla Thornton \u2014 they can negotiate with any team beginning in late January. Veronica Burton and Cecilia Zandalasini make up the organization\u2019s pair of restricted free agents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Golden State\u2019s first-ever draft pick, Just\u0117 Jocyt\u0117, selected fifth overall last April, is expected to make her WNBA debut with the team in the 2026 season. Jocyt\u0117, who will be 20 in November, opted to forgo the Valkyries\u2019 first season and compete for her home country Lithuania in EuroBasket over the summer instead of debuting in the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Thornton, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in late July, was not present for the organization\u2019s Thursday media availability, the other four unrestricted free agents enthusiastically expressed their desire to return to San Francisco for another season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Natalie Nakase relied on Temi Fagbenle to help anchor one of the league\u2019s best defenses. | Source: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades\/The Standard<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to come back here next year. I\u2019ve had a great experience here,\u201d Billings said. For Hayes, it was a quick \u201cobviously\u201d when asked if she\u2019d like to return.<\/p>\n

Kaitlyn Chen, Janelle Sala\u00fcn, Iliana Rupert, and Laeticia Amihere are all reserved free agents. And while the Valkyries hold the rights to retain these four by extending a qualifying offer, the looming collective bargaining agreement negotiations, the expansion draft that will stock Portland and Toronto\u2019s rosters, and limited protected roster slots add layers of complexity to an already uncertain future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to be different, who\u2019s going to stay, who\u2019s going to go, so we have no idea. It\u2019s a hard question to answer right now,\u201d Zandalasini said Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would love to stay on the same team, because we enjoy each other, we had a great time this summer, so that would be our dream,\u201d Zandalasini continued as Martin nodded in agreement beside her. \u201cBut, you know, it\u2019s a business, it\u2019s the \u2018W.\u2019 It has to grow and expand. And it worked well for this team. \u2026 This year we\u2019ve been building this culture, our identity, so we go on from that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as Fagbenle acknowledged, that winning culture was built on something rare in today\u2019s WNBA: a roster without a traditional star.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a team of sixth women, and that in and of itself is completely different from any other team in this league, just in terms of not having any go-to superstar that other teams have. We all know our worth,\u201d Fagbenle said. \u201cWe all know how much we bring to the team. Anyone can step up any given night and carry us and help us. So that\u2019s the beauty of us \u2014 that\u2019s our strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ACecilia Zandalasini took the final shot of the Valkyries\u2019 season and came within inches of drilling a game-winning buzzer-beater against the Lynx. | Source: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades\/The Standard<\/p>\n

The Valkyries\u2019 playoff debut was only the starting line in their ambitious pursuit of a championship within the first five seasons, a goal team owner Joe Lacob has publicly stated. In just one year, they\u2019ve established a winning standard, built an infectious team culture, and set the bar off the court \u2014 boasting the league\u2019s highest franchise valuation and breaking attendance records with 23 consecutive home sellouts. With all that momentum, Golden State has already checked off one of its primary goals: becoming one of the most desirable free-agent destinations in the WNBA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

General manager Ohemaa Nyanin and the Valkyries\u2019 basketball operations already attempted and fell short of landing a marquee free agent while roster-building ahead of the inaugural season. There\u2019s little doubt they\u2019ll try again. The only questions are how aggressive they\u2019ll be and how much of the current roster they\u2019re willing to risk to make that leap.<\/p>\n

The players, though, see something worth holding onto.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much uncertainty, what could we really say? All we know is that the people who we have now are a great foundation to build upon,\u201d Fagbenle said. \u201cEveryone has seen that. So how many of us can they keep together?\u201d<\/p>\n

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