SAN FRANCISCO — When the Golden State Valkyries selected Lithuanian guard Juste Joctye with the fifth pick in the WNBA draft on Monday night, it marked the first draft pick by an expansion team since 2008.
Joctye also became the 10th international player to be added to the Valkyries roster — the most overseas players on a team in the WNBA.
Golden State general manager Ohemaa Nyanin is adamant it didn’t set out to rely heavily on international players — seven of which were selected in December’s expansion draft — and that it’s simply how they’ve assessed the talent pool.
She also doesn’t believe this will set the blueprint for how the next two expansion teams in Toronto and Portland will approach the build-outs of their franchises.
“It remains to be seen after this first season if what we did in the expansion draft, free agency and collegiate draft is the runway for other expansion teams,” Nyanin said Monday night. “We feel very confident that it’s our way…So, I’m curious to see how other teams do it.
“I would say that we’re not trying to pave the way for other teams to do it.”
Joctye, a 19-year-old 6-foot guard, averaged 11.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 21 games for France’s Lyon ASVEL Feminin during the 2024-25 season, playing alongside…
