SAN FRANCISCO — As the Golden State Valkyries prepare to make their first-ever WNBA draft pick on Monday, where they have the fifth overall pick, they are looking to add the next piece to their puzzle.
They have no presumption that they will be selecting the player that unlocks all of their success.
“We aren’t looking for the face of our franchise just yet,” general manager Ohemaa Nyanin said in a news conference on Friday. “We need to build our identity and throughout the season, hopefully, the face of the franchise emerges … I want it to be an organic process … who is going to earn it? I don’t want it to just be given to anybody.”
“I genuinely believe that if you work really hard at [becoming the face of a franchise], then you don’t mismanage it once it’s been given to you.”
Three days out from the draft, it seems as though outside of the presumed No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers, there are several different ways each team can go when selecting their player.
For the Valkyries, Nyanin admits there is still a lot of work for her and her staff to do to settle on who they will select.
But in terms of attributes, according to Nyanin, Golden State wants a “competitive athlete” who is “not afraid of stepping into what is the newest franchise and one who is ready to…
