The Golden State Valkyries have entered the WNBA at an interesting time for the league. The team's Expansion Draft in December was followed by the 2025 free agency, which saw a huge chunk of the league available as unrestricted free agents (who can negotiate with any team) and restricted free agents (a player with 4 years of experience who has received a qualifying offer from their team or become an unrestricted free agent if they don't).
Next year's free agency is set to be absolutely wild. Most of the league will be available as free agents, including the key players who signed one-year contracts with teams this year. On top of that, the league will have negotiated a new CBA, which will likely include an upgrade to retirement and healthcare benefits, and will have started reaping the rewards of a landmark $2.2 billion media-rights deal. In other words: there will be a lot of changes afoot.
Despite the fact that the Valkyries didn't have the splashiest period of free agency, the team has still pulled together a strong roster that's a balance between WNBA vets like Tiffany Hayes, Monique Billings and Kayla Thornton, second-year stars like Kate Martin, and formidable overseas talent who will be exciting to see in action, like Kyara Linskens, Chloe Bibby, and Janelle Salaün.
But free agency hasn't completely ended this year, and there are still strong players looking for a team ahead of this season. We said earlier this month that Isabelle Harrison, who played for the Sky in 2024, could be a strong sixth woman addition for GSV, and there's one more player the team could (and should) make a play for.
Chennedy Carter was a leader for the Chicago Sky
Despite her off the court troubles, there's no denying that Chennedy Carter was a leader for the Chicago Sky in 2024. She was the team's leading scorer, averaged 17.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.1 steals, and filled in a gap after Marina Mabrey was traded to the Sun. Carter has been killing it in the offseason in China, and many believed the Sky would resign her ahead of this year's season.
But the Sky didn't make Carter a qualifying offer, thus sending her out into the world of unrestricted free agency. The decision came as a surprise, as the team could have opted to make her an offer and then allowed other teams to approach, but it's possible that Carter hasn't received as much attention from those other teams as she might have hoped to.
The Golden State Valkyries could add Chennedy Carter for one season
This puts Golden State in an interesting position. There's no doubt that Carter is abundantly talented, but it's also true that her interpersonal relationships with teammates and coaches haven't been strong. Still, she could bring a scoring ability the Valkyries need if they want to be contenders this season, and there's always the possibility that Carter just hasn't found the right fit yet.
If the season goes well and Carter and Golden State are a fit, they could continue working together beyond 2025 — if not, Carter could walk, hopefully after helping the team win a few games. Adding Carter to the team would show the Valkyries are committed to building the best team they can skills-wise to win, and might even give the WNBA vet the chance a redemption she needs.