August 5, 2024
Locked On Women’s Basketball: Can the Golden State Valkyries land Paige Bueckers?
By The Next
'If you're Golden State, you would absolutely love ... [to] have a chance with the ping-pong balls to get Paige'
In the latest episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, The Next’s Howard Megdal welcomes SFGATE.com sports editor Alex Simon to discuss the Golden State Valkyries, WNBA expansion, WNBA All-Star and much more.
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The Valkyries will be the next WNBA expansion team, beginning play in 2025. Simon talks about the fan support in the Bay Area for women’s basketball:
“I think this is a combination of a market that really does like women’s basketball. I mean, the Stanford program is a little bit of a different fan community, but they’ve had that fan support, and they’ve had consistent success. Cal has had solid fan support over the years, and it’s a market where players have come from time and time again. … This is a market that has always been ready for this team. … There’s a litany of reasons why.
“And frankly, I remember 16 months ago when Bay FC, the NWSL team, was announced. I called up [then-Stanford head coach] Tara VanDerveer that day, and she just goes, ‘That’s great. And gosh, it should be women’s basketball. It should be a basketball team.’ And that’s kind of been the feeling. So to have the team now, [it’s a] fantastic moment.”
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There will be an expansion draft this offseason to help the Valkyries build their roster, but details on that event from WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert have been scarce. Details have also been scarce, Simon points out, on where Golden State will fit into the 2025 college draft, with UConn’s Paige Bueckers as the presumed No. 1 overall pick. Simon explains:
“If you’re Golden State, you would absolutely love any way, shape and form to even be in the lottery and have a chance with the ping-pong balls to get Paige. You don’t need to get her given to you outright with the No. 1 pick, but if you just give [them] a shot in the lottery, I think Golden State would love that just to be able to say they have a chance and keep the intrigue up. But Cathy has not at this time even given us any indication as to that process and where they’ll fit.”
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