On Monday, two players with ties to the Valkyries found new homes in the WNBA and signed contracts. Stephanie Talbot was able to sign with New York Liberty after clearing waivers and becoming a free agent. Migna Toure, who had been busy with the French national team after being one of Golden State’s cuts in training camp, signed a 7-day contract with the Connecticut Sun now that those contracts are allowed to be offered.
Stephanie Talbot
Signing with the New York Liberty gives Talbot the chance to play for her sixth different team in the WNBA, but she has actually previously been on their roster. They traded for her ahead of the 2020 season, but she opted against participating in the pandemic season and she never played a game with them before being traded again. The move also reunites her with Sandy Brondello, who has been her coach with the Australian national team since 2017 while also coaching her for the first two seasons of her WNBA career with the Phoenix Mercury.
Talbot’s versatility and experience should give her the chance to contribute off of the bench as the Liberty are preparing to defend their title with the playoffs approaching. New York is set to visit San Francisco on September 2nd for their final regular season with the Valkyries. This signing is a new contract that does not affect the Golden State salary cap situation at all. It is possible that the Valkyries tried to trade Talbot before waiving her, but there were limited options for other teams to absorb her existing contract even if they felt that she could help them.
Migna Toure
After not making the final Golden State roster, Toure gets another chance to play in her first WNBA game with Connecticut. The team has struggled all season and is stuck in last place by three games in the loss column ahead of the second half of the campaign. They freed up roster space ahead of the contract guarantee date and now have the chance to try different players to try to get a lift or to figure out who they may want to sign next year. This move also reunited her with a former coach as Rachid Meziane was at Cavigal Nice for his last season when she played her first year there and he was an assistant with the national team when she was starting to solidify a place there.
Since this is a 7-day contract, Toure will be hoping to get the chance to play early and then impress for either a second 7-contract or an immediate chance to sign a contract covering the remainder of the season. Connecticut’s next game will be on Thursday when they host the Los Angeles Sparks. The last day of her current contract happens to be when the Sun welcome the Valkyries to Uncasville on Sunday so she will have the chance to play against her former team before it ends.
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