The Phoenix Mercury’s Monique Billings was picked 10th among the 11 players selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the WNBA expansion draft on Friday.
This draft was for the league’s new 13th team to begin building its roster for their inaugural 2025 season.
“Monique is a relentless rebounder from both ends,” Valkyries’ general manager Ohemaa Nyanin said during her media availability following the draft. “She’s a ball of energy, a bright light. I actually had the opportunity to work with her when I was at USA Basketball. We went to Japan together, so I know her really well.”
The 6-4 forward Billings finished last season in Phoenix. She was initially signed by the Mercury to a seven-day contract following the Olympic break on Aug. 18, after she was released by the Dallas Wings. Phoenix extended Billings to a rest-of-season deal seven days later.
In her seventh season out of UCLA, Billings averaged 4.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 0.9 steals through 13 games and two starts for the Mercury. She also put up 8.8 points, 6.6 boards, and 1.9 assists in 24 games during her half-year in Dallas.
Former Las Vegas Aces assistant coach Natalie Nakase will helm the Valkyries coaching staff. Nakase was on the Aces staff during the team’s back-to-back title runs in 2022 and 2023. She also was an assistant on the Los Angeles Clippers from 2018-20.
“The ultimate goal here for the Golden State Valkyries and from my owner (Joe Lacob), straight from his mouth, is we would like to win a championship in five years,” Nakase said. “He even said, ‘Maybe even sooner.’ So with that in mind, you have to have competitive players in order to win a championship.”
Who was likely protected from Mercury?
Golden State had 12 picks to take one unprotected player from the other 12 teams to fill out their 12-woman roster maximum, but opted to not choose one from the Seattle Storm.
The existing 12 teams were allotted six protected players. That includes those on the current roster and players whose draft rights are held by teams, making them off-limits from the expansion draft. Teams’ protected lists were due to the league by Nov. 25. Those lists are unpublicized.
“I was genuinely excited about every player that I picked,” Nakase said. “And I can go down the line with the competitiveness that these players will do whatever it takes to win and their high character.”
Golden State can add more players when free agency opens in February 2025, and via the regular WNBA draft on April 14. The Valkyries have the fifth pick in each of the three rounds during April’s draft: No. 5 overall, No. 17, and No. 30.
Of each team’s six players protected, teams don’t have to protect unrestricted free agents who have already played the maximum two years on contracts signed with the core designation.
Golden State was allowed to choose one player from each team and only one total unrestricted free agent, who then becomes eligible to be designated a core player by the Valkyries.
For example, Brittney Griner doesn’t have to be protected by the Mercury because she’s reached the maximum number of core years and is an unrestricted free agent, ineligible to be selected.
Diana Taurasi, also an unrestricted free agent, would be protected — unless she has informed the Mercury that she will retire.
The Mercury have Kahleah Copper, Rebecca Allen, Natasha Cloud and Sophie Cunningham under max contracts for next season, which likely would land them on the protected list.
WNBA expansion plan
Not since the Atlanta Dream in 2008 has the league had an expansion team.
The San Francisco-based Golden State is the first wave of a three-team expansion plan that will continue with the 14th and 15th teams in Toronto and Portland in 2026. Golden State and Toronto were granted new franchises in May and Portland in September.
Toronto announced its new team name “Tempo” on Thursday. Portland’s former team name was “Fire,” which was part of the league’s original four-team expansion alongside the Seattle Storm, Indiana Fever, and Miami Sol in June 1999. The Fire and Sol dissolved three seasons later.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix Mercury’s Monique Billings in WNBA expansion draft
