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After winning 22 regular-season games, earning a surprise playoff berth, and emerging as a local cultural phenomenon, the Golden State Valkyries are ready for an encore.
Can the franchise take another step forward and make a postseason run? Can it inch closer to owner Joe Lacob’s goal of winning a title within the team’s first five years in the WNBA?
The season starts Friday in Seattle, where newcomer Gabby Williams faces her former team. Here are the five storylines we’ll follow closely.
One of the WNBA’s top two-way wings, Williams was the franchise’s marquee offseason addition. But is she the type of player who can carry a franchise?
Williams had never been an All-Star until last season, when she set career highs with 11.6 points and 4.2 assists per game for Seattle. Golden State needs those numbers to improve and Williams to remain one of the league’s top perimeter defenders to build upon last season’s success.
After spending the first three years of her career fighting for backup opportunities, Burton was named the WNBA’s Most Improved Player. She started all 44 games, averaged 11.9 points per game, and scored 20-plus points six times.
Coach Natalie Nakase puts immense pressure on her point guards, and Burton doesn’t have a proven backup. Unless Kaitlyn Chen takes a significant step forward, no Valkyries player has as much of a burden to shoulder as Burton.
The Valkyries waived their top draft picks, Marta Suárez and Ashlon Jackson, who signed developmental contracts elsewhere. Joctye arrives with the pressure to prove GM Ohemaa Nyanin’s draft strategy isn’t a glaring organizational weakness.
At 20, Joctye is one of the WNBA’s youngest players. But with six seasons of pro experience in Europe, expectations for the No. 5 pick in the 2025 draft are high.
Kayla Thornton, Tiffany Hayes, and Kiah Stokes have a combined 33 years of WNBA experience and can provide valuable leadership. But given the makeup of the roster, the Valkyries need a lot of production out of all three. The vets should rotate in and out of the starting lineup, and if any of them deals with a serious injury, Golden State’s depth could be exposed.
Last season, the Valkyries signed Janelle Salaün to a training-camp contract, and she became a foundational piece. Kaila Charles joined Golden State on a hardship contract and played her way into a multiyear deal. Burton had been cut by Dallas and left unprotected in the expansion draft by Connecticut before emerging as the Valkyries’ best player.
No one knows how the season will unfold, but there’s a good chance someone will come out of nowhere and enjoy the best year of her career.
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