Surprise: Valkyries waive Shyanne Sellers early in training camp
The #17 pick is cut unexpectedly
Updates
Stupid question for this novice WNBa viewer: why couldn’t they just stash the lady that they just cut? Doesn’t she have Top 5 talent?
1. Sellers signed her rookie scale contract on April 22 thus they have to keep her on the roster or waive her.
2. She has a recent injury that scared teams into dropping her from projected #5 to #17 (to GSV).
3. The training camp already has plenty of players who are better than her. They have to cut the roster to 12 and WNBA teams are deep and it’s not uncommon for 2nd round picks to not make the team.
4. Actually, the WNBA has MORE flexibility than the NBA in terms of freezing player contracts to play elsewhere or rehab (there is a whole suspension mechanism). But because Sellers already reported to training camp, she has to be kept or cut.
(2025-05-03, 2:30pm)
Shyanne’s sister posted to TikTok: “She’s fully healthy to clear that up!!!!”
GSV waives Sellers early
The Golden State Valkyries tersely announce that they have waived Shyanne Sellers. It’s a real stunner for Valkyries to waive Sellers, the #17 pick. WNBA is deep so it's not completely unusual for second round picks to not make the team but... the first and only cut after one day of scrimmage?
As Ingemi speculates below, it's got to be the knee injury. This is the likely reason she dropped from a projected Top 5 pick all the way to #17 where GSV grabbed her in an apparent bargain value. Turns out not.
We previously looked at the training camp roster to see the likely cuts:
and we knew that these players would have an uphill battle to make the team:
#17 pick Sellers
#30 pick Chen
Cult figure Amihere
the respected Cunane
But the earliness of the Sellers cut is still a surprise. I wonder if the team had been talking with Sellers’s people and cut her early as a favor so she could try to catch on with another WNBA team.
I hope she heals up and eventually earns her way back to the WNBA or a fulfilling pro career.
Update of sorts: Shyanne’s sister posted to TikTok: “She’s fully healthy to clear that up!!!!”
https://bsky.app/profile/mingemi.bsky.social/post/3locbwqcnns2i
Seems like this sort of thing happens somewhat regularly in the W, with draft picks being cut—for medical reasons or otherwise. It makes me wonder how much less these teams are spending on pre-draft scouting and physicals than their NBA counterparts.
Regardless, for a team so desperate for talent, this represents the first instance of outright failure by the front office.