{"id":591435,"date":"2026-04-18T09:06:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T09:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/591435\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T09:06:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T09:06:16","slug":"rookie-marta-suarez-embraces-valkyries-at-rookie-introduction-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/591435\/","title":{"rendered":"Rookie Marta Suarez embraces Valkyries at rookie introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"

OAKLAND \u2014 The moment wasn\u2019t supposed to belong to Marta Suarez<\/a>. Not yet, anyway.<\/p>\n

Draft night has a script.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Names called. Hands shaken. Futures introduced in neat, televised packages.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Suarez was off to the side, in a green room, riding the high after hearing she was drafted by the Seattle Storm and answering questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then the mood shifted. A voice from across the room cut through: you got traded.<\/p>\n

Wait, what?<\/p>\n

She turned toward the TV monitor, searching for confirmation as Commissioner Cathy Engelbert stood at the podium. Golden State. Purple on the screen. The Valkyries\u2019 logo flashing in front of her eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The realization hit in real time.<\/p>\n

\"WNBAWNBA draft picks Marta Suarez, left, and Ashlon Jackson speak during a press conference held at the Sephora Performance Center in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, April 17, 2026. (Jose Carlos Fajardo\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

\u201cI got hella excited,\u201d Suarez said, recalling the moment at Friday\u2019s rookie introductory news conference at the team\u2019s practice facility in Oakland. \u201cI was so happy to come home.\u201d<\/p>\n

And just like that, the night pivoted.<\/p>\n

Because this wasn\u2019t just a feel-good homecoming. It was a decision. A choice. The kind that organizations get judged on long after the applause fades.<\/p>\n

The Valkyries didn\u2019t just bring Suarez in. They made her the centerpiece of the biggest storyline of the night, moving off LSU star Flau\u2019jae Johnson in a trade-down maneuver with Seattle that raised eyebrows across the league. Johnson had the spotlight, the following, the inevitability. Suarez had history here \u2014 Cal roots, Bay ties, and a game that seemingly fits with the identity of Golden State\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

General manager Ohemaa Nyanin<\/a> didn\u2019t offer much to bridge that gap, sidestepping the why behind the move in the moments after the draft and leaving the room to sit in the tension of it all.<\/p>\n

She later told ESPN, \u201cSeattle and I had an agreement to trade picks prior to any athlete selection. I want to be super clear about the draft: This had nothing to do with Flau\u2019jae or any specific athlete selection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nyanin wasn\u2019t made available during Friday\u2019s rookie introduction of Suarez and fellow second-round pick Ashlon Jackson<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But nonetheless, Suarez is more than happy to be back in the Bay.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember seeing the purple and being like, \u2018There\u2019s no way,\u2019\u201d Suarez said. \u201cIt just kind of made sense. It was a full-circle moment and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"WNBAWNBA draft picks Marta Suarez, from left, and Ashlon Jackson share a laugh before attending a press conference held at the Sephora Performance Center in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, April 17, 2026. (Jose Carlos Fajardo\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

Four days after the Valkyries traded down to select Suarez with the 16th overall pick, the decision has still lingered around the second-year franchise.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Johnson felt like a basketball and cultural fit. A defense-first player who can hit 3-pointers at a nearly 40% clip. Not to mention, a budding rap career that would have been bolstered by playing for a Bay Area franchise in the heart of the West Coast rap scene.<\/p>\n

But it didn\u2019t happen that way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Valkyries traded down eight spots with Seattle and picked up Suarez and a 2028 second-round pick. A player who also projects as a basketball fit, but in a different way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At 6-foot-3, Suarez is a versatile player, who can play each forward position and even some small-ball center. This past season at TCU, the Spanish-born forward averaged 17.1 points and 7.4 rebounds and shot 37% from the 3-point line.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Suarez said she already feels her game will mesh well with the Valkyries\u2019 system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey love international players,\u201d Suarez said. \u201cThey run fast, they like versatility and they have a lot of dogs. The way they competed last year is because they had a lot of heart in them. I think that comes across in coach Natalie Nakase in the passion and the hard work.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"WNBAWNBA draft picks Ashlon Jackson, from left, and Marta Suarez speak during a press conference held at the Sephora Performance Center in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, April 17, 2026. (Jose Carlos Fajardo\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

Gone somewhat unnoticed in Monday\u2019s draft drama was the selection of Jackson, a three-year starter at Duke who can fill a need at backup point guard. This past season, Jackson averaged 11.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game and earned All-American honorable mention recognition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jackson caught the national spotlight when she hit an incredible buzzer-beating 3-pointer against LSU in the Sweet 16 in Sacramento.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nakase has seen Jackson up close. During her time as a coach at USA Basketball, Nakase got to see Jackson as training camps were held on Duke\u2019s campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s hardcore,\u201d Jackson said of Nakase. \u201cThe way she goes about the game, she\u2019s a big thinker. She\u2019s going to pull the very best out of you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"WNBAWNBA draft picks Ashlon Jackson speaks during a press conference held at the Sephora Performance Center in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, April 17, 2026. (Jose Carlos Fajardo\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s any easing into this, the rookies haven\u2019t felt it.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re stepping into a roster that already proved it belongs. A team that made the playoffs in its first season and isn\u2019t interested in taking a step back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are minutes to earn, roles to fight for and expectations that don\u2019t bend just because it\u2019s their first training camp.<\/p>\n

Suarez understands that immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe expectations are high,\u201d Suarez said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a training camp of like, \u2018I\u2019m trying to make the team.\u2019 It\u2019s a training camp where we\u2019re trying to build something special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson sees it the same way \u2014 opportunity paired with urgency.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to come in with that mindset and be focused and ready because at any given moment, our number could be called,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be hard, but we just have to continue to do what our coaches want us to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notable<\/p>\n

Golden State\u2019s third-round pick Kokoro Tanaka was not at Friday\u2019s rookie introduction.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tanaka, 20, just finished up a pro season in Japan, where she averaged 5.7 points and 2.5 assists. She is presumably a draft-and-stash player.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"WNBAWNBA draft picks Marta Suarez, from left, and Ashlon Jackson pose for a photograph during a press conference held at the Sephora Performance Center in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, April 17, 2026. (Jose Carlos Fajardo\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OAKLAND \u2014 The moment wasn\u2019t supposed to belong to Marta Suarez. Not yet, anyway. Draft night has a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":590804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[402,2356,4804,14059,5415,36930,10834,10835,5413,7234,10841,10842,5414,99,434],"class_list":{"0":"post-591435","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-golden-state-valkyries","11":"tag-lake-county","12":"tag-marin-county","13":"tag-mendocino-county","14":"tag-monterey-county","15":"tag-napa-county","16":"tag-north-bay","17":"tag-northern-california","18":"tag-santa-cruz-county","19":"tag-solano-county","20":"tag-sonoma-county","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/590804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}