The 2022 WNBA Draft night expectations for Veronica Burton were pretty high. She was thought of as a solid No. 7 overall pick by the Dallas Wings, and given her talent on both ends of the court, it seemed reasonable to believe she might become an impact player in the league.
But three years later, Burton has been unable to average more than 3.1 points per game in a season. She has, however, gotten decent playing time for a young player: 14 minutes per game over 107 regular-season games. The Wings (for two years) and the Connecticut Sun (last year) were willing to put her out there on the court, including in the playoffs.
Already seasoned with playoff experience
In both 2022 and 2024, Burton averaged more minutes in the postseason than she did in the regular season. In 2022, the increase was sharp (15.2 minutes per game to 27.6). In 2023, she had one 26-minute outing in the playoffs, and in 2024, she had outings of 19, 20, 21, 24 and 27. She's had a game with seven points, six assists, five steals and four rebounds, another where she went 2-of-4 from deep, and two where she notched 10 points (in on of those she added six boards, four helpers, a block and a steal).
Because of all this playoff experience, which adds up to 15 games total, you may feel like you know Burton better than you'd expect to know someone who has only averaged 2.7 points over their first three years in the W.
Excelling on both ends in high school and college
Everyone knows about Burton's incredible defensive talent. She has the fundamentals and physicality to stay in front of whoever she's guarding, making it difficult for them to function offensively. She also puts up the glamorous stats — or at least she did in college, with 3.4 steals per game over her four-year career with the Northwestern Wildcats. Back in 2022, she told Queen Ballers Club that the latter (having the anticipation skills to get deflections and steals) came first, in high school. Only in college did she become a lockdown defender.
So she had part of her defensive repertoire in high school, added more in college, and then, as a junior and senior in college, started piling on the points.
Playing in a backcourt with Lindsey Pulliam at Northwestern meant she didn't have to be the No. 1 scoring option. Burton played with Pulliam for three years, and Pulliam was the Wildcats' leading scorer the first two. But in 2020-21, Pulliam's senior year, it was actually Burton who led the team in scoring with 16.2 points per game. It was then that Burton starting gaining some traction as a top WNBA prospect. Her senior encore saw her average 17.8 points and 6.4 assists with 42 made threes.
Burton always had the offensive skill; she averaged 21.8 points as a senior in high school and actually had her best collegiate 3-point shooting season as a freshman (career-best 36.8 percent efficiency with a career-best 46 makes). As a sophomore, her non-3-point field goal makes increased by 44, and as a junior her free throws makes increased by 40. So she became a more aggressive offensive player overall as she progressed through her time at Northwestern.
What will she do in the Golden State?
So, what does all of this mean for the Golden State Valkyries, who acquired Burton in the expansion draft?
Burton has a great 3-point stroke and she can drive and absorb contact really well. She's of course got the ball-handling. If she can improve her 3-point efficiency (it just hasn't been the same since that freshman year of college) and become a better finisher at the rim and in the paint, she could be a truly special offensive player. It took her a couple years to put up really impressive scoring averages in college. Maybe the same will be true in the WNBA. The Valkyries should consider encouraging her to look for her own shot more than she did in Dallas and Connecticut.
Even if they don't, the defense and distributing will always be there. They didn't call her the Backcourt Burglar at Northwestern for nothing. By the way, she averaged 5.9 steals as a senior in high school!
Boston born
Burton was born and grew up about 20 minutes outside Boston, in Newton, MA. Almost every sports fan in the Boston area has probably heard of her dad, Steve Burton, who for many years has covered sports for CBS Boston. Steve was actually a quarterback at Northwestern and his dad played at Northwestern and for the Boston Patriots. Veronica's mom, Ginni, adds to the Wildcat legacy in the family–she was an All-American swimmer. Veronica also has two sisters, Kendall and Kayla, who played college basketball, and a brother, Austin, who played college football. Kayla has followed in her dad's footsteps as a sports broadcaster and is currently enjoying the playoff portion of her inaugural year as the Boston Celtics' pregame show host on NBC Sports Boston.
Just had to shout out all this stuff because I am also from the Boston area. My high school actually competes in the same league, the Dual County League, as Burton's high school, Newton South. I also have extensive ties to the Bay Area; my dad grew up in Concord, CA (30 minutes outside Oakland) and my half-siblings have been in and out of the area throughout their lives, including growing up not far away in Davis, CA (Sacramento area).
So it's great to see a fellow Bostonian now getting her own taste of San Francisco, a truly beautiful and exciting city. Hopefully Burton becomes a key contributor for the purple and black!