The Golden State Valkyries Waive Shyanne Sellers

The Golden State Valkyries made their first move since opening training camp, waiving Shyanne Sellers on Saturday before the team completed an entire week together. As the 17th pick in the entry draft, the earlier of their two picks currently on the roster, there was certainly a lot of surprise that she was the first player to be released by the team. When it comes to roster-building in the league in general, it is not as shocking for a player around her draft position to ultimately not make the opening day roster, but the speed of the decision could mean other factors were involved.

Injury Factor?

Sellers was a popular projection to be selected in the first half of the first round in the draft so there were already some questions circulating after she slipped during that process. The speculation seemed to circle around whether an injury suffered during the college season was having lingering effects that could affect her availability this season. Neither side gave any indications that this was a factor when publicly discussing this move. If the team did feel like there could be health concerns this season, it would make sense for them to waive her now and avoid the risks that could come with picking up a documentable injury during the season. In past seasons, teams have complained about the difficulties in fully evaluating the health of some of their draft picks before training camp. By her being health enough to participate in training camp, the Valkyries had no ability to suspend her contract or otherwise retain her rights for a future season without carrying her on the roster.

Updated Roster Situation

With the move, the Valkyries roster is down to 17 players with 16 players currently with the team. The first year of a rookie-scale contract is not guaranteed so there are no salary cap implications related to waiving Sellers. Janelle Salaun is in the middle of the finals in Italy and it is unclear if she plans on reporting immediately after they conclude or join the Valkyries later. If she is not with the team at the start of the season, the opening day roster could have 13 players. There was also news this week about Iliana Rupert, who was selected in the expansion draft as she stated interest in joining the team later in this season after national team duty with France and the team should have more than enough room to accommodate that even after waiving a player to add her to the roster.