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Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin made an unusual draft-day move, selecting Flau\u2019jae Johnson at No. 8 and trading down to the second round, drafting forward Marta Suarez and adding a 2028 second-round pick.<\/p>\n
Scott Strazzante\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
It was a troubling week for the Golden State Valkyries<\/a>. Their reputation took a hit, marking the first time anyone got upset about anything they\u2019ve ever done. But just hang on, grumbling skeptics. When the season opens May 8, their intentions will be quite clear.<\/p>\n As fans tried to digest the confusion<\/a> over drafting heralded LSU guard Flau\u2019jae Johnson and then sending her off to Seattle, they had a right to be perplexed. General manager Ohemaa Nyanin<\/a> made a series of vague comments that explained nothing, making her look like a substitute teacher taking over a class with zero preparation.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s why it\u2019s going to work: There\u2019s an overwhelming sense that Johnson wouldn\u2019t start for the Valkyries\u00a0\u2014 or even be the first guard off the bench.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n They have nothing short of a dream backcourt, with Veronica Burton<\/a> emerging into an international person of interest\u00a0\u2014 looking quite comfortable in Team USA\u2019s recent training camps\u00a0\u2014 and recently signed Gabby Williams<\/a> ranking among the classiest and most versatile guards in the world. Just when people wondered whether the\u00a0Valkyries would ever join the parade of star-power signings, they landed a slice of perfection.<\/p>\n For the moment, 20-year-old\u00a0Just\u0117 Jocyt\u0117 (You-stay Yoh-sit-tay) remains stashed overseas, where she\u2019s a full-blown star and engaged in the Euroleague playoffs with Uni Girona CB in Spain. But it won\u2019t be long before the lefty is in training camp, about to show why the Valkyries made her their No. 1 choice in last year\u2019s draft.\u00a0<\/p>\n San Francisco Chronicle Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n (Williams, Iliana Rupert<\/a>, Ceci Zandalasini<\/a> and Kaila Charles are also involved in the Euroleague\u2018s season-ending play, explaining why several fill-in players have been brought into camp.)<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Seasoned analysts have compared Jocyt\u0117\u00a0to 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\u00a0\u2014 which she has been since the age of 15.<\/p>\n As a mainstay of the French national team, Williams is quite familiar with Jocyt\u0117\u00a0and thrilled to be a teammate. \u201cI\u2019m happy I can be there for her, because she\u2019s going to be one of the best players in the league,\u201d Williams said in an interview with French television. \u201cI saw that potential early on, and I\u2019ve been saying it for years.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Valkyries rookie Marta Suarez, a 6-3 forward from TCU who spent two seasons at Cal, answers questions during her introductory\u00a0news conference\u00a0in Oakland on Friday.<\/p>\n Yalonda M. James\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n It\u2019s just that the Valkyries don\u2019t need to sell tickets\u00a0\u2014 they\u2019re likely to be sold-out all season\u00a0\u2014 and they tend to fancy the charms of all-for-one sisterhood. Of course they would have welcomed Johnson\u00a0onto the roster, and it\u2019s likely she\u2019s worth a lot more than Marta Suarez and a second-round pick that\u2019s two years away. But let\u2019s watch\u00a0Suarez, a tough-minded, do-it-all forward who would have landed elsewhere in the first round, before laying that judgment down.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n 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\u00a0Awa Fam, the Spanish center who could easily have been the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. The Storm couldn\u2019t believe their good fortune drafting third, and as new coach Sonia Raman told reporters, \u201cI don\u2019t know if we\u2019ve seen this type of a frontcourt.\u201d<\/p>\n Not in the WNBA, that\u2019s 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\u2019s starters\u00a0\u2014 Williams, Skylar Diggins, Brittney Sykes, Erica Wheeler and Nneka Ogwumike\u00a0\u2014 heading elsewhere in the offseason.\u00a0<\/p>\n It says here, meanwhile, that the critics have erroneously tapped Golden State as a team in dire need of shooting. Granted, it doesn\u2019t 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\u2019ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, Jewell Loyd). But the Valkyries, already familiar with the playoffs, are loaded with potential.<\/p>\n However, a couple of Golden State forwards, Zandalasini and All-Rookie selection Janelle Sala\u00fcn<\/a>, 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<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n So those fears the Valkyries can\u2019t score might go unrealized, thanks to the talent already on the roster.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Around the WNBA<\/p>\n \u2022 Las Vegas will have another big-time threat if recently signed Chennedy Carter stays out of trouble\u00a0\u2014 locker-room issues have kept her in and out of the league for years\u00a0\u2014 and performs like the player called \u201cthe most talented in our league\u201d 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\u00a0WNBA banishment, along with stops in Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles. The truth at hand is that she\u2019s unstoppable on the drive and has every shot in the book.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Angel 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.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0It got a little awkward between Caitlin Clark and Raven Johnson when Iowa met South Carolina in the 2023 tournament semifinals. The Hawkeyes didn\u2019t 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 \u201cbashing and bullying\u201d on social media in the aftermath, she almost quit the game.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n South Carolina evened the score in the 2024 title game, ending Clark\u2019s 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\u2019s talent speaks for itself, and when you hear these high-character women saying all the right things\u00a0\u2014 sincerely\u00a0\u2014 you get the feeling it\u2019s going to end well.<\/p>\n Bruce Jenkins writes the 3-Dot Lounge for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: jenksurf@gmail.com; Twitter: @Bruce_Jenkins1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin made an unusual draft-day move, selecting Flau\u2019jae Johnson at No. 8 and trading…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":591690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[4804,219103,60206,99,434],"class_list":["post-591689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-golden-state-valkyries","tag-marta-suarez","tag-ohemaa-nyanin","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591689","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=591689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>
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