How Julie Vanloo getting drafted by Golden State impacts a Washington Mystics team in transition

Vanloo waited five more years to break into the league as a player, and after a strong rookie season with the Washington Mystics, she will head back to California for the 2025 season. The Golden State Valkyries selected the 5’8 guard in Friday’s expansion draft to fill out their roster ahead of their inaugural season.

“[Washington] is and will always be THE organization that gave me the opportunity to show the world what I got,” Vanloo wrote in an Instagram story early Saturday. “It’s with mixed feelings I’m leaving DC … but exciting at the same time. The hard work we put in together opened doors for me and I will never forget my rookie year. All love.”

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Vanloo entered the WNBA with ample international experience. She’d played for club teams in nine countries and been on the Belgian national team for several years. She’d also played in the 2020 Olympics and helped the Belgian Cats win EuroBasket in 2023. (She went on to make her second Olympic appearance in 2024, leading the Cats to a fourth-place finish.)

As a 31-year-old WNBA rookie last season, Vanloo started 34 of 40 games for the Mystics and averaged 7.4 points, 4.3 assists and 1.6 rebounds in 23.2 minutes per game. She made 72 3-pointers, which ranked fifth in WNBA history for a rookie, and her 173 total assists tied for seventh all-time among rookies.

“It was my dream to come play [in the WNBA], and to actually have a big impact for the team was really pretty amazing and pretty unpredictable,” Vanloo told reporters in her exit interview on Sept. 20. “I mean, I was just ready to play whatever role the team would give me. … It’s been an amazing year. I know I’m 31, but I felt like I grew throughout the season. … I feel like there’s still room for improvement. I still think I can do even better.”

Vanloo has also been excelling this winter for the Turkish team Galatasaray, where she plays with fellow Valkyries draftee Cecilia Zandalasini. Through 10 Turkish League games, Vanloo is averaging 13.0 points, 8.8 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game. She had a triple-double on Nov. 17 against Nesibe with 15 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds, and she came one rebound short of another on Sunday against Kocaeli.

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Golden State chose Vanloo for her basketball experience and potential for growth, but most of all for her competitiveness. That was the buzzword Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase used on ESPN just before the selections were revealed and general manager Ohemaa Nyanin used when speaking with reporters afterward.

“Julie’s a ball of fire,” Nyanin said. “[She] has that spunk. … She just seems like she’s a happy person. She seems like … her goal is to play basketball and to win games, and she seems like she doesn’t take herself too seriously. And so that’s exactly what we need in terms of an entrepreneurial spirit in wanting to come and be a Valkyrie.”

Vanloo’s departure is the latest for a Mystics franchise that already parted ways with head coach Eric Thibault and general manager Mike Thibault this offseason. Monumental Basketball president Michael Winger has not hired replacements for either yet. According to The Washington Post’s Kareem Copeland, there are five to six finalists for each job, and a decision is expected around Jan. 1.

Once hired, the new head coach and general manager could shake up the roster quite a bit in free agency or keep it largely intact. Just five players are currently on protected contracts for 2025: guards Ariel Atkins, Brittney Sykes and Karlie Samuelson; center/forward Shakira Austin; and center Stefanie Dolson.

Guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, a Mystics mainstay over the past several years, is an unrestricted free agent and could sign anywhere. And five other players are on unprotected contracts or are reserved players, meaning that the team could move on from any of them without financial penalty.

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As the roster currently stands, Vanloo’s departure clears the way for 22-year-old Jade Melbourne to get more minutes at point guard. Melbourne, the youngest player in the WNBA last season, was mentored by Vanloo during their year in Washington. She also won a bronze medal as Australia’s starting point guard at the 2024 Olympics.

Now, instead of being the Mystics’ third point guard behind Sykes and Vanloo, Melbourne could back up Sykes — or play alongside her if the Mystics’ next coach opts to move Sykes back to the wing instead of playing her at the point. The Mystics could also use one of their two first-round picks in the 2025 college draft on a point guard or sign one in free agency.

On social media, many Mystics fans reacted with dismay to Vanloo leaving, including one who quoted sad Taylor Swift lyrics and another who wrote, “i fell to my knees so hard my spine shattered.” Some Mystics players also shared their thoughts publicly: “I’m so sad,” Dolson wrote on Instagram with a crying emoji. And Samuelson, who’d bonded with Vanloo over their similarly winding journeys to the WNBA, expressed a similar sentiment on Twitter.

“Thank you for continuing your legacy with the Mystics,” the Mystics wrote to Vanloo on social media. “A part of your journey lives here in D.C. and we’ll always appreciate your time in The District. Your WNBA dreams are just beginning!”

The Valkyries still have free agency and the college draft to navigate, too, before finalizing their 2025 roster. But assuming Vanloo plays for the Valkyries next season, she’ll return to Washington twice, on July 31 and Aug. 13. The Mystics will also travel to Golden State on May 21 — their third game of the season — and Aug. 30.

Editor’s note (Dec. 7, 7:30 p.m. ET): An earlier version of this story misstated the name of the Monumental Basketball president. He is Michael Winger, not Eric Winger.