It was quite a debut season for the Golden State Valkyries this year and there is certainly plenty of excitement about what will happen before next season as the team looks to progress even further. Unfortunately, there is a lot of uncertainty right now about the offseason schedule as the league and players need to negotiate a new CBA. That will be one of the items that we will be covering during the offseason as it affects so much about what the team will be able to do. There will also be other aspects of the offseason that will get regular coverage here.
Offseason Play
Many WNBA players play elsewhere during the league’s long offseason for a variety of reasons, including money, the ability to stay in competitive shape, and to build up their resumes in case they no longer have a spot in the league. International players also have the ability to play closer to home during that time. We will have weekly updates on games that players with ties to the Valkyries play in both international leagues and the newer American competitions that run during this time. Some international competitions stream their games freely so any videos of games that are available will be linked.
The New CBA
The players voted to utilize the clause that allowed them to opt out of the remaining years on the current CBA, meaning that the current agreement will no longer be in effect at the end of October. Given the very different financial state of the league compared to the last negotiation, the new agreement will be structured quite differently. The league has already offered a substantial increase in compensation, but the players are asking for much more than that and a change in how that is determined in order to scale with growth in future years. With how many details will need to be ironed out, this is expected to be a long negotiation, but the hope from a fan perspective will both be for a successful agreement that creates stability during the length that it runs and no disruptions to next season’s schedule. As soon as the agreement is reached and key details are announced, we will provide as much coverage about how it affects the Valkyries as possible.
More Expansion
The success for Golden State certainly raised the bar for future expansion teams and there are two teams getting ready to begin play next year. Toronto expands the footprint of the league to Canada while Portland becomes a closer opponent for the Valkyries. They have already started to follow the Valkyries blueprint by hiring key personnel from the team to positions in their organization, including naming Vanja Cernivec as their general manager after her role in building a successful squad. There will be an expansion draft to help both teams start their rosters, but rules, details, and whether the Valkyries will be involved are all yet to be decided.
Free Agency
While fans have certainly connected with the players that made up the initial Golden State roster, the team for the next game is certainly going to look different. Internal improvement and added draft picks are certainly not going to be the sole steps needed to progress towards the team’s goal of a championship soon. Unlike last offseason when there were few free agents, almost every player who had the ability to arrange the expiration of their contract to coincide with this offseason did so. The Valkyries will have plenty to offer to free agents and should be very competitive with other teams after their work this year. The new CBA could also drastically change what is available for players and we will cover that aspect once more details of the new rules are known.
The 2026 Draft
The final standings at the end of the regular season determined which picks that the Valkyries would start with in the next draft. Those picks are currently 8, 23, and 38, but trades would also be possible. The upcoming college season will certainly have a big impact on which players will get consideration in which range. Golden State has also shown no hesitation when it comes to bringing in international players. The current rules have international players automatically enter the draft in the year that they turn 20, which is how Carla Leite was able to play this year while being younger than players on the college path. There have been occasional complaints about the disparity in the rules, which could certainly be changed in a CBA, so who might be in consideration from that path is not known yet.
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