Carla Leite is officially heading to the Bay Area this WNBA season, and will make make her stateside debut at long last.
Leite was drafted by the Wings as the No. 9 overall selection in the 2024 WNBA Draft, but spent the season overseas in France. She was a surprise pick for the Valkyries during December's Expansion Draft, as it was largely expected the Wings would protect a first-round draft pick. But as they say, one team's loss is another team's gain, and Leite is about to bring an offensive skill to San Francisco that the Valkyries desperately need.
Carla Leite's playmaking is special
With her signing, the Valkyries are now guard-heavy — the team also boasts Tiffany Hayes, Julie Vanloo, Stephanie Talbot, and Kate Martin — but Leite brings something else to the squad. As a playmaker Leite is top-tier; she is a pick and roll superstar, her passing on the live dribble is elite, and her ability to distribute the ball is going to help make the Valkyries more of a threat than they might have been otherwise.
With Leite officially locked in, the Valkyries will be able to design game strategies that will maximize opportunities for the team to score. Golden State has already repeatedly emphasized their focus is on shooters and scoring, and Leite's role on the team will undoubtedly be to assist (quite literally) in every way.
Carla Leite is also strong defensively
Lest you be convinced that offense is Leite's only skill, rest assured she's just as strong as a defensive player. In Thursday's match against the Sky's Dana Evans Leite came away with 28 points, 8 assists, and absolutely zero turnovers, and she's currently averaging 5.4 assists versus 3.5 turnovers (while shooting 45.3% from the floor and 41.2% from 3) while playing for Villeneuve-d’Ascq LM.
The only question mark that surrounds Leite is whether or not she will play in Eurobasket this summer. If so, she will be allowed to leave the WNBA for two weeks ahead of the tournament in June, and will be expected to return two days after her team's run ends. The games take place from June 18 to June 29.
That Leite chose to sign with the Valkyries this year is a positive sign that she intends to play with the team through the season, and the Eurobasket decision may be up to the coach of France's national team. No matter what happens in June, the Golden State Valkyries are stronger with her, and Leite is about to do something special in San Francisco this year.