Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob announced his plans to bring a WNBA team to the Bay Area in October 2023. "We're coming in here, number one, to win," Lacob told ESPN at the time. "Number two, we want to see this league and women's basketball grow, and we hope to be a big part of it."
The Warriors were ranked number one by Forbes in terms of NBA valuation, a fact that was in part due to the enormous success that followed the opening of the Chase Center, where the Valkyries will begin playing this coming WNBA season.
With that decision, a new WNBA team was born. An Expansion Draft followed in December 2024 and the Valkyries added 11 new players to the team's roster. The team will also have the No. 5, 17th, and 30th picks in the 2025 WNBA Draft.
Two new teams will join the WNBA in 2026
The Valkyries will be followed by two new teams that will debut next year: the Toronto Tempo and an as-yet-unnamed team out of Portland, Oregon. Though Golden State didn't come out of this year's period of free agency with a lot of major gains, the team has the opportunity to finetune the roster and get a few wins under their belt — and hopefully attract a few free agents in 2026, when most of the league will be available.
More cities are on the horizon
Right now, it's anyone's guess as to which cities will join the WNBA after Toronto and Portland. It's possible the league will take a pause following the addition of all three Expansion Teams to make sure there are enough athletes and fans to support the teams before adding more, but several cities (and basketball heavyweights) have already thrown their names into the hat of potential team owners.
Last week Candace Parker, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, and Bill and Crissy Haslam announced Tennessee's WNBA bid for a team named after the state's legendary coach Pat Summitt. "Tennessee is the DNA of everything women's basketball stands for," Parker said at the time. "I'm excited to be part of the group working to bring a WNBA team to the state and honor Coach Summitt's legacy."
There are also other potential ownership groups in Philadelphia, Detroit, Charlotte, Austin, Denver, and Houston. Some of these cities have played host to WNBA teams that folded in the past, but for others this would be the first time they've had WNBA representation.
The future of the Valkyries will impact the WNBA as a whole
For fans and athletes, more teams can only be a good thing — and every potential new team will be looking to the Valkyries for guidance and support. The best thing the Valkyries can do is to stay focused on their long-term goals, draft a few key players, and buckle up for what is sure to be a wild — and fun — inaugural season.