Who says the Valkyries don’t have a superstar?

“The fact that Jess Smith has blown out every other competition in terms of other women’s sports — I mean, she’s iconic,” coach Natalie Nakase said earlier this week of the team’s president.

“She’s leading the way and we’re trying to follow in her footsteps.”

The proof of that has been everywhere from the first explosion of energy inside Chase Center in the Valkyries’ sold-out debut season last year to Sunday’s raucous and victorious Year 2 home-opener.

You could say that Smith helped lead the Valkyries to a start-up triple crown: first playoff berth ever for a WNBA expansion team in Year 1, most annual revenue ever ($78 million last year, per Sportico), and recently landing a $1 billion valuation by CNBC, easily the highest estimate in league history.

What does this all mean in Year 2 and beyond? Practically, the Valkyries don’t need to do all the exhausting, extraneous things to try to break through in this market and make an impact in the sport.

They’re already a significant cash-gusher example of the WNBA’s new financial possibilities. They’ve already broken through to the mainstream. General manager Ohemaa Nyanin has already proven she can assemble an extremely competitive roster out of players other teams have overlooked. Nakase has already proven she’s one of the best coaches in the league.

In every important measurable way, platform, and demographic, the Valkyries already matter.

Which also underlines the inevitable tensions in the Valkyries’ important next step.

How do you keep all the exuberance of this breakthrough cultural and basketball moment but also methodically — and perhaps a little coldly — move toward a championship?

How do you get better … without getting too different?

It’s not going to be simple. Building this up obviously wasn’t simple. And winning a championship — whether it’s within five years, as owner Joe Lacob has decreed, or just getting to contention level enough times to capture a title eventually — will be at least as tricky.

Plus, after that perfect inaugural season, the Valkyries were probably due for a few missteps.

And yes, Nyanin, Nakase, Smith, and Lacob haven’t negotiated the Year 2 launch perfectly, including that odd and mostly unexplained give-away of the No. 8 pick of the draft.

But the baseline success is unaltered: Their 2-0 start this season, the depth of talent, and the unmistakable togetherness of this team are the ultimate proof of concept. And the roars at Chase are the exclamation point.

Just the highlights, among many other developments: Nyanin signed top two-way wing Gabby Williams in free agency, drafted and then traded Flau’jae Johnson to Seattle for very little return, and eventually had to release culture-setter Kate Martin due to a roster crunch.

So not everything has been cut and dry. You sure can feel a bit of the strain of trying to fit the Year 1 culture into Year 2 realities. And the Valkyries have struggled to explain their thinking recently because, I suspect, they’ve struggled to plot it out exactly themselves.

Again, the Valkyries want to keep the culture and chemistry that have meant so much to the fans and led to beating all expectations in the standings last year, but they also don’t want to get over-satisfied by what worked in the past and ignore what must change going into the future.

Would Johnson have been a dynamic long-term upgrade over, say, Kaitlyn Chen or Tiffany Hayes at guard? Probably. Maybe. But it’s understandable if Nyanin didn’t think so.

We’ve already seen the Valkyries look awkward trying to make it all mesh this season. There will probably be more times when they look too protective of the spirit of 2025. There will probably be times when they make a move that risks changing things too much.

Threading this kind of needle is hard. So far, the Valkyries’ big bets have been on Williams (hard to argue) and Kiah Stokes, who was also signed in free agency.

“It’s really about the holes that we’re trying to fill and improve on from last season,” Nakase said.

“I think Gabby Wiliams and Kiah Stokes, they bring a different dynamic. … [Williams is] one of the best two-way players in the world so how do you say no to that type of dynamic?

“But it’s also Gabby’s and Kiah’s selflessness that comes with it. I’m telling you guys, the depth of our roster is really very powerful. You may not see that every single night, but I think as we continue to grow and learn each other, having that selflessness is really going to be key when that ball is moving maybe a little bit extra sometimes or when we have each other’s back on defense.”

Williams and Stokes have blended right in with the Valkyries’ identity. Would any draft pick at No. 8 have fit like that? Maybe Lauren Betts, Gabriela Jaquez, or Kiki Rice from national-champion UCLA. But the trio went in order 4, 5, and 6.

Still, you’d think the Valkyries could’ve gotten more for the value of the eighth pick. For instance, powerhouse Minnesota acquired the No. 2 overall pick they used on potential superstar Olivia Miles last month in an April 2025 trade with Chicago — the Lynx exchanged the 11th pick that year for the Sky’s 2026 selection.

Which is a lot more than what the Valkyries got for trading a higher pick this year.

If Johnson is a star in Seattle, that’ll be a permanent stain on the Valkyries’ decision-making process. But they clearly decided that Johnson will not be a star. Or that she wouldn’t have been a star in the Valkyries’ system.

Still, at some point, the Valkyries need the top-tier talent that drives championships, the kind of talent we can see in recent championship contenders Las Vegas, New York, Minnesota, and on some new developing power teams.

In Dallas: Paige Bueckers, Arike Ogunbowale, Azzi Fudd.

In Washington: Kiki Iriafen, Sonia Citron.

The Valkyries have borderline stars who might turn into big-time winners — Veronica Burton, Kayla Thornton, and Janelle Salaün are all in that category. We’ll see about last year’s No. 1 pick, Justė Jocytė, who remains the biggest and most intriguing mystery of this franchise. I think Cecilia Zandalasini is a pure bucket-getter. And Laeticia Amihere and Chen are important role players.

Maybe this is enough to move close to a title soon. I won’t put any ceiling on Nakase’s leadership and the toughness of these players. They’re far ahead of schedule, no doubt.

Plus, they don’t need to juice up the box office with high-profile players who might not otherwise fit the long-term picture. The seats are sold. The noise is constant. The money is flowing.

“What Jess Smith did, in terms of, now we’re the highest-valued team,” Nakase said. “We’re now worth $1 billion.

“What shows is the commitment that this city is putting in us. And the responsibility that if we are the most-valued team, then we’d better show up.”

What’s their brand-name? It’s their own name. The Valkyries are a brand. A huge brand.

But this will get even bigger if they can get better and better and win a championship in the next few years. It would be extraordinary if the Valkyries can pull it off. It would be even more amazing — and more difficult — if they can do it while maintaining the soul of what’s been happening since last year.