Date, Time, and Location: Tuesday, June 2nd, 7:00pm, Chase Center
Broadcast Information: KPYX (San Francisco Bay Area), KMAX (Sacramento Area), KPDX/Rose City Sportsnet/live.theportlandfire.com (opposition’s broadcast area), WNBA League Pass (streaming outside teams’ broadcast areas)
The Golden State Valkyries finish this homestand on Tuesday when they face the Portland Fire. Their opponents were expected to struggle as an expansion team, but have instead had an excellent start. This game will also be the first of the seven straight games that will make up the Western Conference portion of the Commissioner’s Cup. All eight teams will play a round-robin and the top team will advance to the championship game. Since the Valkyries have the advantage of four home games compared to three road games, this will be a big opportunity to start their quest with a win and try to contend for a trophy.
The Valkyries
Veronica Burton went the bench late in Sunday’s game after getting hurt and she is the only player on the injury report, being listed as questionable with a quad contusion. It will be the first return to San Francisco for Carla Leite after Portland selected her in the expansion draft, so she is set to receive a video tribute showing her time with the team. There are also front office ties with Vanja Cernivec getting good experience in building a team from scratch with the Valkyries last year.
The Opposition
Portland went with an NBA assistant coach for their first coaching hire, bringing in Alex Sarama from the Cleveland Cavaliers despite his youth based on his developmental background and willingness to challenge conventional approaches. There have certainly been questions about the team’s methods and decisions early in the season, but their record is excellent so far, exceeding the Valkyries start to last season as they have shown how dangerous that they are to all teams.
The Fire had four games at home to start the season, opening with a loss to Chicago, but splitting a pair of games with New York before a win over Connecticut. They lost at Indiana in their first road game, but won a battle of expansion teams in Toronto before showing that the New York win was no fluke with a repeat performance. They have recently played three home games, losing to Atlanta between another win over Connecticut and a decisive win over Indiana on Saturday. Injuries were an issue for them early in the season, but they submitted a clean injury report today.
They made eleven picks in the expansion draft, but have six of those players on the roster now. Before picking Carla Leite, they chose Bridget Carleton as their lone unrestricted free agent and gave her the three-year market max contract as the cornerstone of their team on the wing. Their next two picks, Luisa Geiselsoder and Emily Engstler, have been important as starters in the frontcourt. After picking some players who did not stick, they chose Nyadiew Puoch, who had not played in the league yet after being drafted in 2024, and she has been the other consistent starter. Sarah Ashlee Barker has made some key plays for them to close out games while coming off of the bench.
The big move in free agency for Portland was signing Megan Gustafson away from Las Vegas as she had international club experience with the staff previously. She has mostly come off of the bench for them to provide post scoring. They have two of their draft picks on the roster in German forward Frieda Buhner, who spent part of a college season at Florida, and center Serah Williams, who played her last college season at Connecticut. They also signed Jordan Harrison after she went undrafted out of West Virginia and then signed her to one of the developmental player spots after waiving her once they hit the active roster limit.
The last roster spots went to players who had not played in the WNBA before this season, but had professional experience in Europe. Veteran Slovenian point guard Teja Oblak was injured to start the season, already showing her playmaking once she got healthy. British guard Holly Winterburn started her college career at Oregon and had planned to transfer to UC Davis before turning professional early, going undrafted in both 2022 and 2023. She started the season in Atlanta, but was signed to a developmental player after being waived before quickly being elevated to a regular contract.
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