For the Valkyries of Golden State, patience will be part of the plan.
Keeping the fifth selection in Monday’s draft, the WNBA expansion team hopes to find an impact player, but temperate the expectations of getting an cornerstone of the franchise.
“We are still looking for the face of the franchise,” said the general manager, Ohemaa Nyanin on Friday at a telephone conference with journalists. “I think we need to build our identity, and during the season, I hope the face of the franchise arises.”
Historical, the fifth general selection has not been a place to find All-Star talent. In the last 10 draft, only the star of Dallas Arike Ogunbowale and Las Vegas Cheyenne Parker-Tyus have received all-star recognition out of the fifth place.
He thought that this year’s Draft group has a series of big names, Nyanin did not give his hand about what the team will do on Monday. She just wants to see how things develop.
“I is a lot because this is an organic process,” he said. “There are athletes that enter with great notoriety. There are some that many athletes who do not know them, and the fan base surely does not know them. Who will win?
The Valkyries will surely be lost the Paige Bueckers of Uconn, who are expected to go first in general to Dallas. The Seattle storm has the second selection and the Mestics of Washington have the third and fourth selection, leaving Golden State apart from landing a player who can have an immediate impact.
In the December expansion draft, Valkyries acquired a mixture of young promising players such as the former guard of Los Vegas, Kate Martin and intelligent veterans like Kayla Thornton, who won a championship with Freedom from New York last season. In the free agency, Golden State added to the 12 -year -old veteran Tiffany Hayes and the 28 -year -old Phoenix Mercury guard, Monique Billings.
The list could still use an athletic wing that can defend and write down. Players like Kiki Iriafen from USC and Anesah Morow de LSU could fit into that role if they fall to the fifth place.
Outside what a player brings to the court, Nyanin and the Valkyries are looking for some who can establish a winning tone, just like a rookie.
“In terms of attributes, we want a competitive athlete,” said Nyanin. “Someone who is not afraid of entering what is the newest franchise, and one who is ready to be a team player, regardless of how many years they have or how much experience they had in the university.”
But if the Valkyries land a star with their choice, the team’s expectations will not change.
“I think we hope the athlete knows the situation in which they are,” said Nyanin. “We have high expectations so that all our athletes enter … So every athlete that comes in the training field is really importing to help us continue defining our identity for the season.”
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