Before Justė Jocytė plays a minute for the Valkyries, the franchise’s draft strategy is riding on her.

The 6-foot-2 wing will arrive as both a question mark and a potential answer to one of the Valkyries’ biggest issues in their inaugural season: consistent shot creation. If she steps in and delivers, Jocytė, 20, won’t be remembered merely as a clever first-ever draft pick. Her presence will be an affirmation of the franchise’s roster-building philosophy through the draft — which is very much in question.

Jocytė’s highly anticipated debut remains in question, as her Spar Girona team is still competing in the Spanish League playoffs. The Valkyries haven’t set a timetable for when they expect her to report, and it’s unclear how much time she’ll spend practicing before she plays her first game.

GM Ohemaa Nyanin and the Valkyries’ front office entered this year’s WNBA Draft with layers of contingency plans, shaped in part by a compressed offseason. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the franchise emerged with nothing to show for it. 

Golden State selected LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson with the No. 8 pick, then traded her 45 minutes later to Seattle for No. 16 selection Marta Suárez and a 2028 second-round choice. On Saturday, the Valkyries waived Suárez and the No. 23 pick, Ashlon Jackson. The third-round selection, shooting guard Kokoro Tanaka, 20, will remain in Japan and won’t join the team this season. 

Jocytė stayed overseas in 2025 to play for the Lithuanian national team at EuroBasket, second-round pick Shyanne Sellers was cut during training camp, and only Kaitlyn Chen — picked out of the crowd (opens in new tab) where she was supporting UConn teammate Paige Bueckers — played for Golden State last season. 

Now the verdict on the team’s drafting philosophy hinges largely on whether Jocytė can validate its vision. 

If the Valkyries get this right, everything changes. If not, questions will persist. 

Jocytė doesn’t necessarily fit the mold of a can’t-miss WNBA prospect — mostly because she doesn’t appear to possess elite athleticism. But one of the main reasons she didn’t register near the top of 2025 mock drafts was uncertainty around her eligibility; specifically, how her age and international status would be evaluated, as she was born in the U.S.

The Valkyries were thrilled to see her available at No. 5 and believe they got a steal. Jocytė’s game is built on craftiness, pacing, and feel, all aspects that tend to age well but don’t always translate immediately to WNBA success. 

Jocytė has been playing professionally overseas since 2019, becoming, at 14, the youngest player ever in France’s top league and the EuroLeague. That gives her six-plus years of experience against older, more physical players.

She’s known in Europe to be a legitimate three-level scorer. As a left-handed shooter, she looks comfortable spotting up and creating off the dribble. She can operate on and off the ball and — arguably most important for the Valkyries — can generate her own offense.

That skill set fills an under-the-radar need for Golden State. For a group still searching for reliable shot creation within an “everybody eats” style, Jocytė’s ability to bend defenses and make decisions with the ball should give the offense a different dimension, especially when Veronica Burton is off the floor.

“She’s just so smart, and the fact that she’s so young — it’s going to show, she’s going to have a great career,” said Kaila Charles, whose Umana Reyer Venezia team faced Jocytė’s Spar Girona in the EuroLeague.

Charles guarded Jocytė in a recent matchup.

“She’s a really big guard who can create for others, she can shoot, she can step out, and she’s in the post,” Charles said. “She’s so versatile, and it fits with the system that we have.” 

That firsthand impression hints at what compelled the Valkyries to exercise patience with Jocytė. Her versatility allows her to toggle between roles, easing lineup constraints, and potentially providing the coaching staff with flexibility in how it builds out rotations. 

In selecting Jocytė with their top pick in 2025, and presumably protecting her in the WNBA expansion draft in April, the Valkyries have placed a bet that isn’t just about talent; it’s the idea that her smarts, versatility, and creativity on offense will seamlessly translate into their foundation.

Now there’s an added layer of pressure tied to how Jocytė ended up in this position. 

Under head coach Natalie Nakase, Golden State has shown a clear preference for players who move the ball toward “family shots” — open looks generated from crisp perimeter passing — and operate within a fluid offensive system. The front office, as shown, leaned heavily into international scouting in building that identity.  

The league’s expansion draft forced difficult choices for Golden State, which lost rising point guard Carla Leite and European star Maria Conde. Protection lists were not made public, but it seems likely that Jocytė made the cut despite never appearing for the Valkyries in their inaugural year. With her arrival expected soon, Jocytė doesn’t need to be better than Leite was at 21 last season, but in some sense, she does need to justify Golden State’s bet. 

Jocytė could be a rotational piece who flashes potential but takes time to settle in and develop. Or she could become the connective tissue that unlocks a new dimension of offense and elevates the system around her. 

The range of outcomes is wide. That’s what makes her so important.