The Golden State Valkyries Make Their First Free Agency Moves

For the first time since the Expansion Draft, the Golden State Valkyries had player transactions on Tuesday with the official notification of them happening coming on Wednesday. None of the moves were unexpected and the team still has one decision to make before the end of this portion of the process and the start of negotiations with players.

Reserved Qualifying Offers

Three of the players picked in the expansion draft are not under contract for this season, but they have not had the required service time to become free agents after last season so the Valkyries took over the exclusive signing rights held by their former team. If qualifying offers are not made, the players become unrestricted free agents, but given that the offer is at the minimum salary and not guaranteed, there is no reason not to make them at this time. Golden State did just that, handing out offers to Cecilia Zandalasini, Veronica Burton, and Julie Vanloo. These players can sign the offers before free agency starts although the internationals do have slightly more negotiating leverage in that they could decide to remain at home instead of joining the team at the lowest possible salary.

Restricted Qualifying Offer

One player selected in the expansion draft had the service time to enter restricted free agency this year. The Valkyries extended that qualifying offer to Temi Fagbenle, meaning that she can try to secure an offer sheet from another team that is more than Golden State’s contract proposal, but they can still match it to keep her with them. Offer sheets must be at least two seasons and the expiration of the CBA at the end of this season makes it less likely that any players will be eager to pursue offer sheets. As a result, the two sides could decide on an offer that is more than the qualifying offer, but perhaps lower than what other teams would be willing to offer, especially with Fagbenle’s comfort with missing WNBA seasons in the past. Her signing could end up being much later in the process when salary cap space is clearer for the team.

Core Qualifying Offer?

The Valkyries were able to pick one unrestricted free agent in the expansion draft whose previous team still had the ability to core her and they opted to select Monique Billings. During this period, they need to decide whether to extend the applicable qualifying offer to her, which is one year guaranteed with the maximum salary. She was somewhat of a surprise pick for this role so it is not really shocking that they did not immediately extend the offer. Many teams make all of their decisions official on the same day so it is possible that Golden State has already decided to let her become an unrestricted free agent, but they still have time to decide. If they did extend an offer, Billings would likely sign it immediately. It is worth noting that she has missed time in China recently due to injury.

Waiting for Other Teams

The Valkyries are not the only team that needs to make decisions at this time so other transaction news has been released recently. Las Vegas, Dallas, New York, Chicago, Seattle, and Atlanta have all had decisions announced so the wait shifts to Connecticut, Indiana, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Phoenix, and Washington. Once the deadline passes, statuses for all players in free agency will be in place and then all of the teams can begin negotiating with players.