GSV Expansion Draft Prediction: New York Liberty
give me your huddled draft picks yearning to be free
The primary index for the whole Expansion Draft Series is here.
Fansided: Kayla Thornton
Even if Courtney Vandersloot remains unprotected, she's 35 and set to enter free agency anyway. Nyara Sabally has started to realize some of her massive potential as this season has progressed. That doesn't leave us with a ton of options, so we'll go with Thornton, who could slot in as a 3-and-D option on the wing.
SI.com: Courtney Vandersloot
On the surface, it may seem crazy to think that the Liberty won't elect to protect Courtney Vandersloot, who has been one of the WNBA's best point guards for a decade. But here are the facts: Vandersloot is 35 years old, set to be an unrestricted free agent (meaning she's the sole UFA we're predicting Golden State to select), has been removed from New York's starting lineup, and played over 8 minutes less per game this season than last year. Given how many elite players the Liberty have — Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, and Lionie Fiebich will certainly all be protected — that leaves just one more protectable player. And Vandersloot would be a great veteran leader for what will likely be a young Valkyries team.
The Ringer: wish Marine Johannes
Sohi: Obviously, for the Liberty, one of Kayla Thornton or Nyara Sabally is going to be available. Whoever that is, that’s the one you take. But also, I kind of wish they could just take Marine.
Merchant: I can’t believe I listed all of those French players and forgot Marine Johannès. Like, what? By the way, anybody who hasn’t watched her YouTube highlights absolutely should, so they know what I’m talking about. You might not win a lot of games, but you’re going to have a lot of fun.
Valhalla.Basketball (very detailed analysis at site): Nyara Sabally or Kayla Thornton
There are a lot of options for the Valkyries to sort through when it comes to the Liberty leaving players unprotected, but having a GM who worked for New York should give them a head start in evaluating their options. In terms of players who can contribute right away, the likely decision to either leave Nyara Sabally or Kayla Thornton as the first unprotected player could provide an easy choice. Barring unexpected protection choices, it seems unlikely that Golden State will use their ability to pick an unprotected unrestricted free agent to apply the core designation to, but Courtney Vandersloot might be the closest to a player who gets that consideration. There will also be a mix of international and young players that could be riskier picks. New York would like a little more protection ability so they could offer a small trade to try to make that happen.
So I don't watch enough WNBA games (I will when I have the Valkyries to root for, I promise)g to really have a handle on players so I am reduced to kind of hoping for archetypes (example: Diamond Miller is the type of player I like, though I haven't seen more than a few minutes of her in actual play, so I guess I'm hoping she's unprotected and we get her).
However, this quote:
>You might not win a lot of games, but you’re going to have a lot of fun.
plus a few minutes watching highlights (and since we're probably not going to win a lot of games no matter what, at first) has me really hoping they get Johannes!
PS even though I don't know the players that well, yet, and I have no idea what kind of player Nakase likes or what strategy the Vs will use to construct a team, I am enjoying this window shopping trip/series through the possible available players and I plan to enjoy the expansion draft, the collegiate draft, and free agency with all the anticipatory fun of watching a great meal being prepared.
If the goal is to start playing serious, organized offense in year one, Sloot would be a dream.