Potential future picks attend All-Star Game
PHOENIX — The Golden State Valkyries still don’t know where they will pick in the 2025 collegiate draft or when they will get that information, but there is a good chance they met with one of their prospective selections over the weekend at the All-Star Game.
While members of the Valkyries’ front office — President Jess Smith, general manager Ohemaa Nyanin and vice president of basketball operations Vanja Cernivec — spent the weekend in Phoenix, so did many players who are likely to be top selections in next year’s draft.
When the Atlanta Dream entered the league in 2008, they picked No. 4. When the Chicago Sky were added in 2006, they also didn’t receive the first pick, slotted instead at No. 6.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert wouldn’t comment on how that might work for the Valkyries as the lone expansion club in 2025, but it is likely they will pick somewhere in the top five.
UConn guard Paige Bueckers and Stanford-turned-USC forward Kiki Iriafen are next year’s projected top picks. Both sat courtside during the league’s skills competition and the AllStar Game between the WNBA All-Stars and U.S. Women’s National Team.
The teams most likely to win the lottery sweepstakes to get one of those players are the Dallas Wings (6-19), Washington Mystics (6-19) and Los Angeles Sparks (6-18).
“We’re doing two things at once right now,” Nyanin said. “We’re trying to find the best people to come work with us and people interested in the WNBA and growing and also trying to find the best talent and athletes. Scouting domestically and internationally, for the expansion and collegiate draft, we have our eyes on everything.”
Bueckers is likely to be the top pick after returning for a fifth season at UConn following injury woes that have plagued what has still been a dominant collegiate career. Iriafen upped her stock in her junior season at Stanford with a 19.4 scoring average and ranking 16th in Division I in total rebounding rate (21%) before transferring to USC.
Iriafen, who is from Los Angeles and has been spotted at Sparks games this season, didn’t comment on the Valkyries specifically, but she was excited for the opportunity to meet WNBA executives and players with whom she might be working in the near future.
“I’m soaking in my last time being here as a fan,” Iriafen told the Chronicle after Friday’s skills competition. “It’s a blessing to be around the WNBA, and I’m super excited I got to be here.”
Bueckers, who sat with LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson at the game, has already fanned the flames of speculation about being interested in the Valkyries with her seeming love of the color lavender, the team’s primary logo color, and she complimented the branding drop in May.
If the Valkyries end up with a later pick and those two are off the board, LSU’s Annesha Morrow, Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles and UConn’s Azzi Fudd are other projected high picks.
“Anyone who comes here (Year 1) is going to be a part of the foundation,” Smith said. “It’s new for all of us, but we do know we’ll have a collegiate draft next spring and are looking at the best athletes no matter where we pick.”
WNBA rookies in 2024 have fueled the popularity surge of the league, from Indiana’s top pick Caitlin Clark to Chicago’s Angel Reese. Former Stanford forward/ center Cameron Brink also got plenty of marketing opportunities before she tore her ACL in the midst of her first season.
The Valkyries have the expansion draft and free agency to figure out before they can focus on the collegiate draft, but that will be a key part of their roster building and marketing if they do snag one of those top picks.