The WNBA announced on Monday that the expansion draft for the Golden State Valkyries, which will begin play as the league's 13th franchise during the 2025 season, has been scheduled for Dec. 6. An exact time is still yet to be determined, but the event will be broadcast on ESPN.
As an expansion franchise, the Valkyries do not have any players on their roster. In order to fill out their 12 spots, they will have the opportunity to select from a designated pool of players who are currently on the other 12 teams.
Here's how that process will work.
Determining the player pool
At the end of the 2024 season, each team will have to submit an official roster list to the league that includes every player to whom the team has rights as of the final day of the season. A deadline for submitting this list has not yet been determined, though it will be "approximately 10 days prior to the date of the expansion draft."
Each team will then designate a maximum of six "protected players" who cannot be selected in the expansion draft. All other players will be available.
How many players can the Valkyries select from each team?
One.
In the order of fairness, the Valkyries can only select one player from each of the other teams. That prevents a situation where one team (or a few teams) has its roster decimated, while others are left in tact.
What about upcoming free agents?
If the Valkyries select a player who is an upcoming free agent, they will receive whatever contract rights the previous team had with said player. Thus, if a player was set to become a restricted free agent, for example, the Valkyries would have the right of first refusal on a contract offer from another team.
It is important to note that the Valkyries can only select one player in the expansion draft who will become an unrestricted free agent in the winter.
And they can only pick such a player "provided that the player has not previously played pursuant to a Core Player contract for two or more seasons." In that event, the Valkyries could select said unrestricted free agent and use the core provision on them in January.
Any unrestricted free agents who go unselected in the expansion draft and are not designated as a core player will be eligible to sign for any team, including the Valkyries, when free agency opens in February.
Can the Valkyries make trades?
Yes. Between the time that the other 12 teams submit their official roster lists and the expansion draft, the Valkyries will be able to make trades.
That includes, "an agreement to select a particular player from the list of Available Expansion Draft players, and trade that player to a team other than their existing team" and "an agreement to select (or not select) a particular player from such trading team's list of Available Expansion Draft players."
Getting to know the Valkyries
The Valkyries were announced as an expansion franchise on Oct. 5, 2023, and will be the first new team to join the WNBA since the Atlanta Dream in 2008. They are owned by Joe Lacob and Peter Gruber, who also own the NBA's Golden State Warriors, and will play their games in the Chase Center in San Francisco. Their color scheme will be violet, black and white.
