The Golden State Valkyries have many paths to take ahead of their 2025 inaugural season if they want to ensure they get the best talent possible down the road. Free agency is always a way for them to build out a roster, and making draft day trades next year can also be fruitful for them. But, these aren't necessarily great long term answers to what their core can shape up to be beyond 2025.
Women's basketball fans know just how deep the draft has become as college basketball stars with staying power emerge on the scene. In recent drafts, players like Aliyah Boston, Angel Reese, and Caitlin Clark have all brought with them years of high-level college basketball play into the WNBA.
So, while the Valkyries can - and should - peruse the free agency market ahead of 2025 and see if they can snatch up players like Kelsey Plum or Satou Sabally, as well as whoever they can grab from teams after they designate their players protected from the WNBA expansion draft on Dec. 6, there's a more surefire way to ensure they'll have staying power in the league.
The Valkyries could accelerate their timeline with a quick tank
It's an ugly phrase, tanking. It's a tool used by teams who are desperate for a rebuild and need an extra boost to that rebuild to get themselves off the ground. But, Golden State could feasibly tank for their first two years in the league and head into 2027 with, ideally, a number one overall pick. And, with that pick in 2027, the team could take another generational college basketball prospect in USC's JuJu Watkins.
Watkins, who is just a sophomore, is averaging over 21 points per game in addition to filling up the stat sheet across the board. And that's with her shooting not being all the way back to its 2023-24 form. Her scoring package, size, and ability to draw so much attention as a scorer make her a prospect a team like the Valkyries cannot afford to miss out on. They need as many core players as they can get, and Watkins would be the perfect rookie guard to build around come 2027.
Additionally, the team could tank in 2025 and end up with a top pick in 2026 as well, allowing them to choose from another generational pool of talent, such as Raegan Beers out of Oregon State or Lauren Betts from UCLA, to truly make the team a Californian affair. This process could be painful for the veteran free agents the Valkyries sign and for whoever they get in the expansion draft.
But the payoff would be glorious and immediate for the new franchise, making it worth a try.