How will the WNBA’s first expansion draft since 2008 shake out? Who knows!
There’s a myriad variables to consider, beginning with the player protection decisions of the league’s 12 existing teams and extending to the Golden State Valkyries’ team-building priorities.
That an absurd seven teams have made, or are still in the process of making, a head coaching change makes it even more difficult to discern which six players some teams will choose to protect. In naming the six players, organizations are balancing their own internal considerations with the external ones of Golden State. Internally, protecting a player signals that the franchise values them; they are part of the favored six. And while those who are unprotected may understand that, “It’s a business,” the protection process inevitably draws distinctions within a team. As a significant number of a team’s unprotected players could return to the roster next season, management of player emotions—on top of evaluations involving talent, fit and contractual status—has to be part of a team’s process.
Then, there’s the external, as every organization has to estimate what kind of team Golden State wants to build. Will the Valkyries favor younger players who are under contract for multiple…
