Fans of the Golden State Valkyries are not pleased with the latest WNBA Draft report, which suggests that they may select Paige Bueckers, a talented player from UConn.
Approximately one hour prior to the start of Game 1 of the WNBA Finals between the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty, Cathy Engelbert, the commissioner of the WNBA, made some significant declarations regarding the league’s future.
One announcement was that, beginning in 2025, the WNBA Finals would move from their current five-game format to a seven-game series. In addition, Engelbert declared that the league’s regular season will now consist of 44 games rather than the current schedule of 40 games. The guarantee of at least one home game for each playoff team was the third (an announcement that made fans of the Indiana Fever extremely happy).
Engelbert also revealed that the 2025 WNBA Draft lottery would take place on November 17, and feature four teams (the Sparks, the Wings, the Sky, and the Mystics. However, the new Golden State Valkyries expansion team would not be a part of it, as they were guaranteed the No. 5 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft.
While getting pick No. 5 means the Valkyries will get an elite rookie, it also means they almost certainly won’t get UConn star guard Paige Bueckers, who is projected as the draft’s No. 1 overall pick.
This news has Golden State fans mourning what almost was with Bueckers.
“Paige mentioned by Natalie, aka the head coach of the Phoenix, just now on the Warriors broadcast when talking about the new talent entering the league,” X user @bueckers__ continued. She is meant to be in the bay .
“man paige is meant to be a valkyrie she would’ve been the star and future of that franchise i’m sick,” stated another.
