The Golden State Valkyries selected Connecticut Sun guard Veronica Burton to their inaugural 2025 roster in the WNBA expansion draft Friday.
Burton, a 5-foot-9 guard out of Northwestern, was picked No. 7 overall in the 2022 WNBA Draft by the Dallas Wings and played her first two seasons with the franchise before she was waived during training camp in 2024. The Sun signed Burton two weeks into the 2024 season to help replace point guard Moriah Jefferson after a knee injury, and she logged 12.7 minutes in 31 game appearances. The third-year guard averaged a career-best 3.1 points and 1.9 assists per game.
Teams were able to protect six players from selection in the expansion draft, and Burton’s availability indicates that both former UConn star Olivia Nelson-Ododa and 2024 first-round draft pick Leila Lacan were protected by the Sun. Lacan is from France, so keeping her rights made perfect sense for Connecticut after the team hired French head coach Rachid Meziane on Wednesday, especially given Lacan’s experience playing in the EuroLeague where Meziane has coached since 2006. Nelson-Ododa was traded to the Sun in 2023 after she was drafted in the second round by the Los Angeles Sparks in 2022, and she is Connecticut’s only forward who will not enter 2025 as an unrestricted free agent.
Burton was one of just four guards selected by the Valkyries, who took 11 players in the first expansion draft since 2008. She will be joined by rookie Carla Leite from the Dallas Wings, Kate Martin from the Las Vegas Aces, and Julie Vanloo from the Washington Mystics.
Golden State also drafted Iliana Rupert from the Atlanta Dream, Maria Conde from the Chicago Sky, Temi Fagbenle from the Indiana Fever, Stephanie Talbot from the Los Angeles Sparks, Cecilia Zandalsini from the Minnesota Lynx, Kayla Thornton from the New York Liberty and Monique Billings from the Phoenix Mercury. Golden State did not draft any players from the Seattle Storm.
“We are trying to build a very, very competitive culture,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase told ESPN. “I have three non-negotiables: Number one, they have to be ultra competitive. They have to really love winning, and they have to hate to lose. Number two, they have to be high character, so that means that they have to sacrifice for the greater good of the team always. Then the last one is they have to have a never satisfied mindset. I like players that like to play with a little chip on their shoulder.”
