2025 Valkyries free agency 2: re-signing the expansion draft players
Lots of good players who might not play in the WNBA
The whole 2025 Valkyries Free Agency series is indexed here.
Re-signing expansion draft players
From Her Hoop Stats:
Free agents: Monique Billings (unrestricted free agent), Temi Fagbenle (restricted free agent), Veronica Burton (reserved), Julie Vanloo (reserved), Cecilia Zandalasini (reserved), María Conde (suspended - contract expired), Iliana Rupert (suspended - contract expired).
Under contract for 2025: Stephanie Talbot, Kayla Thornton, Kate Martin.
The significant international slant to the choices also means that they've likely taken some players who won't show up, or who will at least be questionable to play in the WNBA virtually every year. María Conde has literally never shown up in the US since being drafted in 2019;
Fagbenle's played one WNBA season in the last five;
2024 was Cecilia Zandalasini's first WNBA appearance in the last six;
Iliana Rupert has played parts of two seasons in the four years since being drafted in 2021.
If that expansion draft group actually ended up being their opening day roster in 2025, they'd have more players overseas at EuroBasket Women in June next year than they would in Valkyries uniforms playing WNBA games…
Monique Billings as their one allowed unrestricted free agent pick was something of a surprise. However, as detailed in my breakdown of the protected lists and projected picks, there weren't likely to be great options with that UFA selection (barring someone unexpected being left available, or a headline Delle Donne move). A lot of similar mid-level veteran posts were going to be an option (Billings, Cheyenne Parker-Tyus, Isabelle Harrison, Myisha Hines-Allen, Mercedes Russell etc.), and any one of them would be overpaid by the supermax core qualifying offer. Phoenix was also one of the teams without a lot of great options to pick instead, so Golden State probably weren't giving up much by using that choice on Billings. But taking a player who was cut in preseason last year, then spent the remainder of the season on multiple teams latching on as a replacement option, isn't a great look for what's supposed to be a key selection. Nyanin also wouldn't commit to coring Billings, which would make selecting her essentially pointless as she'd become a true unrestricted free agent (exactly as she would've done if left in Phoenix, assuming they didn't core her). But the choice is between that path or giving her the core qualifying offer, which would be a significant overpay if she simply signed it.
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Offseason finances: By virtue of taking so many players who are only rights of various kinds rather than actually under contract, the Valkyries have left themselves with a vast amount of cap space. Only Talbot, Thornton and Martin are signed for 2025, leaving over $1.2m in remaining space - the most for any team in the league heading into 2025 free agency. At least a little of that money will presumably be earmarked for signing some of their expansion draftees, especially as it sometimes takes more than the applicable minimum salary to entice overseas players into choosing the WNBA over spending the summer on a beach. But most of the players selected will be on low-end salaries, if they end up playing at all.
That means a whole lot of free agent shopping in the first Valkyries offseason. The numbers mean they could theoretically add four players on maximum salaries (and a fifth mid-level vet) before filling out the end of the roster with cheap youth. You'll likely hear some pretty big names connected to the organisation, especially considering the attraction of the West Coast and the Golden State organisation, but whether stars will want to join the project when there's no established talent core remains to be seen.