Valkyries GM says Flau’jae Johnson trade made for cap room
OAKLAND, Calif. — Three weeks after making one of many largest draft-night strikes that despatched the rights to the No. 8 decide, Flau’jae Johnsonto the Seattle Storm for the rights to the No. 16 decide, Martha Suarez, Golden State Valkyries normal supervisor Ohemaa Nyanin stated the trade was carried out to keep up cap flexibility.
“We thought we had the opportunity to potentially sign another athlete,” Nyanin stated on the staff’s media day Tuesday. “My job is to make sure we maintain an understanding of what’s happening today and then what could happen in the future. So the flexibility that is needed to really be able to withstand whatever could happen in the future is something I hold close and dear to me.”
By buying and selling the draft rights of the No. 8 decide — paid $309,622 within the first season — for the No. 16 decide ($270,000) — the Valkyries saved round $40,000. Immediately after the draft, they’d near $750,000 of cap area. Ultimately, they spent the vast majority of that re-signing Tiffany Hayes.
Nyanin did not wish to discuss in regards to the trade throughout his information convention on draft night time however later informed ESPN that the trade was agreed to before the draft.
On Tuesday, Nyanin stated the timeline of the trade wasn’t so simple as swapping the picks earlier than the picks had been made, and that she had a variety of “contingency plans as to what it was we were looking for.”
After the draft, sources informed ESPN the deal wasn’t agreed to till Golden State was on the clock at No. 8, and that Seattle instructed Golden State to choose Johnson. Later, at No. 16, the primary decide of the second spherical, Golden State instructed Seattle to pick out Suarez, a 6-foot-3 ahead out of TCU. In alternate for Johnson, the Valkyries additionally acquired a 2028 second-round choice.
“I also had a lot of conversations with different teams to figure out what the trade options were,” Nyanin stated Tuesday. “Then at that time when we figured out that this was a trade we wanted to make, the trade was for the rights of the pick. … No athlete was considered at that moment in terms of us trading an athlete.”
The Valkyries waived Suarez final week — a choice Nyanin stated was partly made as a result of the membership was nonetheless making an attempt to grasp the brand new CBA guidelines and the way years of service would influence how a lot every participant was paid.
Golden State may nonetheless decide up Suarez on waivers, if she’s nonetheless accessible, and signal her to one of many two open improvement participant roster spots.
Nyanin, in addition to head coach Natalie Nakase, have repeatedly stated the entire roster strikes have been made with the staff’s chemistry in thoughts. This offseason, which was condensed due to the drawn-out CBA negotiations and noticed over 100 gamers enter free company, the Valkyries needed to keep up as a lot continuity as doable.
The Valkyries need to construct on their historic inaugural season that noticed them turn out to be the primary growth franchise to make the playoffs.
“We’re hungrier even more [than last year] because we got a taste of the playoffs,” Nakase stated. “It’s another reason we wanted to bring back our core — we thought we were in a good spot after last year. Our whole locker room right now is hungry. I want to win. I want to win at any cost.”
Valkyries proprietor Joe Lacob has tasked Golden State to perform the identical factor his males’s staff, the Warriorsdid after he purchased the staff in 2010: win a championship in 5 years.
“The timeline is front and center,” Nyanin stated.
“Joe [Lacob] sets the standards very high,” Nakase added. “I love the fact that he challenges me and gives me a timeline. He only talks about banners and rings, and for me, it makes me excited.”
