OAKLAND — The Golden State Valkyries have set their 12-player roster for Friday’s season opener against the Los Angeles Sparks at Chase Center.
Among the surprises who survived final cuts Wednesday were Janelle Salaün, who wasn’t with the team in training camp, and Kyara Linskens, who had a limited role in the team’s two exhibition games.
But the roster won’t include the team’s three picks from last month’s draft and veteran Laeticia Amihere, who scored 25 points in the preseason.
“Today is a bittersweet day for our franchise,” general manager Ohemaa Nyanin said after practice Wednesday. “Our staff made a lot of tough decisions today. … There are a lot of dreams that came true today and there are a lot of dreams that were deferred.”
Golden State Valkyries draft pick Kaitlyn Chen, left, General Manager Ohemaa Nyanin, center, and draft pick Shyanne Sellers, right, take part in a press conference on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Oakland, Calif. Sellers was the 17th selection and Chen the 30th selection for the Golden State Valkyries in the 2025 WNBA draft. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)To reach the roster limit, the Valkyries waived their third-round draft pick, Kaitlyn Chen, along with a group of veterans that included Chloe Bibby, Elissa Cunane and Migna Touré.
Coach Natalie Nakase said she felt the group of players who made the team shared a strong chemistry on both ends of the floor.
“This 12 is connected,” Nakase said. “The spacing we had today was probably the best I’ve seen. In terms of preparing for L.A., they’re ready. The details that they picked up, they were on point today.”
After cutting Chen and releasing second-round pick Shyanne Sellers on May 3, just five days into training camp, the Valkyries will not have a player from their 2025 draft class on the roster to start the season. First-round pick Justė Jocytė did not join the team in training camp and was not expected to begin the season with the expansion club because of European basketball commitments.
But it remains unclear if she will play with the Valkyries at some point this summer. When asked about Jocytė’s status on Wednesday, Nyanin did not provide an answer. But she said the rookie’s absence “did not factor into any of the decisions from today.”
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