From future Hall of Famers to dazzling young talents with untapped potential, the Bay Area’s new WNBA team is expected to have a diverse pool of players at its disposal when it begins to construct its roster next week.

After years of discussion about the league growing its footprint into more markets, it’s finally happening. The WNBA is set to expand from 12 teams to 15 within the next two years.

The 2025 WNBA Draft Lottery is in the books, which means it's time for the league to turn its attention to the next major item on the offseason agenda: the expansion draft to determine the Golden State Valkyries' roster.

The Golden State Valkyries can select one player from each WNBA team roster during the expansion draft. Here's what to expect.

The Lynx’s depth helped lead them to the WNBA Finals, but they should be watched closely heading into the expansion draft. Team president and head coach Cheryl Reeve will have to make difficult decisions about who to protect, though no matter what she decides, high-potential or high-impact players will be available.

Most teams have about four players who are obvious non-negotiables to protect before it gets tricky. For the Sky, those four players are Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso, Elizabeth Williams and Michaela Oyenwere.

Get the answers to some of the main questions about the expansion draft for the Golden State Valkyries on December 6, 2024.

The Golden State Valkyries have an arena, a president, a GM, a director of basketball operations, a head coach and more than 20,000 season-ticket deposits, but if they’re going to do this thing called the WNBA,