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Valkyries expansion draft: Kate Martin, Temi Fagbenle headline WNBA's newest roster

jack baer · kari anderson
·6 min read

Kate Martin is among the bigger names on the Golden State Valkyries' first roster.

The Las Vegas Aces fan favorite was among the selections in Friday's 2025 WNBA expansion draft, joined by a group of 10 other players their teams chose not to protect. The full list of the Valkyries' selections, as announced by golfer Michelle Wie West, rapper E-40 and former Golden State Warriors player Baron Davis:

  • Iliana Rupert, Atlanta Dream

  • María Conde, Chicago Sky

  • Veronica Burton, Connecticut Sun

  • Carla Leite, Dallas Wings

  • Temi Fagbenle, Indiana Fever

  • Kate Martin, Las Vegas Aces

  • Stephanie Talbot, Los Angeles Sparks

  • Cecilia Zandalasini, Minnesota Lynx

  • Kayla Thornton, New York Liberty

  • Monique Billings, Phoenix Mercury

  • Julie Vanloo, Washington Mystics

The Valkyries did not select a player from the Seattle Storm. They also hold the fifth overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, along with abundant cap space to sign free agents. Natalie Nakase has already been announced as the franchise's first head coach.

The rules of the WNBA expansion draft allowed each of the league's 12 teams to protect up to six players on their roster as of the final day of the 2024 regular season. Athletes with previous core player designations, such as DeWanna Bonner and Brittney Griner, were also ineligible to be selected. The Valkyries were then allowed to choose one unprotected player from each team, but only one unrestricted free agent total.

Here's more on each of the players selected:

Martin being selected means the Aces opted to not protect her, which isn't much of a surprise given how they used her toward the end of last season. The 18th overall pick of the 2024 WNBA Draft out of Iowa was a pleasant surprise early in the season when Vegas was struggling with injuries, but her playing time plummeted as the team got healthy.

After seeing double-digit minutes in 16 of the Aces' first 21 games, Martin cracked that threshold only twice in her final 13, also missing a chunk of time in July and August with a lower leg injury. The collegiate teammate of star Caitlin Clark saw a grand total of three minutes in the postseason.

"This league is all about opportunity," Martin told ESPN after her selection. "I am very thankful for the Aces and everything I got to learn there, but I'm really excited for this new beginning and to build something from the ground up with the Valkyries."

Martin also joins the Valkyries having already played under Nakase, who was an assistant with the Aces for the last three seasons.

The French center was selected by the Aces out of the French basketball league in 2021. She earned a WNBA championship in 2022, her only season with the team. Rupert then played with Atlanta in 2023, playing in 20 games that season. She did not play in the 2024 WNBA season, and currently plays in the Turkish basketball league.

Conde, a Spanish forward, was drafted by the Sky in 2019. However, she has never played in the WNBA, opting instead to stay in Europe. Since being drafted by the Sky, Conde has played in Spain, Poland and Czechia, but has never made it to the States; it is unclear whether she intends to come back and play for Golden State, or whether the Valkyries will simply hold her rights.

One of the Valkyries' younger players, the 24-year-old point Burton was drafted seventh overall by the Wings in 2022 and will be entering her fourth year in the league. The guard was a three-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year while at Northwestern, and was a third-team All-American in her senior year. Burton played in 31 games for the Sun last season as a backup point guard.

The 20-year-old French guard has yet to play in a WNBA game. Leite, who signed her first pro contract at age 18, was selected ninth overall by the Wings in the 2024 Draft, but opted to stay in France. Leite was on the short list to play for France at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but did not make the final roster.

Fagbenle is a 32-year-old veteran with experience in the WNBA and abroad. After playing with the Lynx from 2017-2019, she crossed the Atlantic to play in Spain, Italy, Turkey, Czechia and England before landing with Indiana last season.

She appeared 22 games off the bench for the Fever, averaging 6.4 points per game and showing solid chemistry with Caitlin Clark.

The Australian national is coming off a career-worst season in just about everything for the Sparks, which was also her first year back from a torn ACL. Golden State will be betting on a bounce back for the frontcourt veteran.

Another European acquisition will be a 28-year-old Italian forward. Zandalasini joined the Lynx in 2024, marking her second stint with the team after playing in Minnesota from 2017-2018 and playing in Turkey and Italy in between. Zandalasini played in all 40 games for the Lynx off the bench, averaging 4.6 points per game and 1.1 assists. She won a WNBA Championship with the Lynx in 2017, during her first stint, and played in 11 of the team’s 12 postseason matches this season.

Thornton will join the expansion team as an WNBA champion, having played all 40 regular-season games and 11 postseason games for the Liberty last season. She was well-liked in New York and is now on her fourth WNBA team, having been drafted by the Mystics and played six seasons with the Wings.

It's been quite a ride for Billings, who spent the first six seasons of her career with the Atlanta Dream. She joined the Sparks on a hardship contract last offseason, got cut during training camp, joined the Wings on another hardship contract, got released, landed with the Mercury on a seven-day contract and ended up finishing out the season in Phoenix. She is the lone unrestricted free agent to be selected.

Vanloo entered the WNBA at the age of 31 last season after more than a decade as a professional in the international leagues. Her "rookie" season was overall a success, leading the Mystics in assists per game (4.3) while providing shooting from the perimeter. She's the early favorite to start at point guard for Golden State.