Years of intrigue have brought us to this moment and on Friday evening, WNBA expansion will finally move from concept to reality once again with the Golden State Valkyries’ expansion draft. It’s a moment that everyone, from fans to commissioner Cathy Engelbert, has long been waiting for.
Well, just about everyone.
“From a competitive spirit, none of us as GMs are looking forward to it,” Atlanta Dream general manager Dan Padover said. “But as visionaries for the league and watching the growth of the league, we understand that it’s a really good thing.”
Padover is one of dozens of executives across the league that have spent the past few months navigating the less glamorous side of the expansion draft process.
The other franchises knew this day would be coming ever since the league officially announced the Valkyries — the first expansion team since the Dream joined in 2008 — back on Oct. 5, 2023. They did not know when or exactly how it would work, however, until the league revealed the specifics in September.
There are plenty of details that Padover and Co. have had to comb through, but the short of it is this: on Friday, the Valkyries can select up to 12 players, but no more than one…
