WNBA Champion Valkyries Have Just $3.2M Guaranteed for 2027 Ahead of Free Agency

The Golden State Valkyries have $3.2 million in guaranteed money on their 2027 books, CBS Sports reported four days after they won the WNBA title. The league’s salary cap was $7 million in 2026.

Golden State beat the Atlanta Dream 68-63 in Game 7 of the Finals on Oct. 31. The Valkyries won it without an All-WNBA player, a first in league history, according to CBS Sports.

Offseason planning was already underway Monday, in an afternoon session with general manager Ohemaa Nyanin and Kirk Lacob, Valkyries owner Joe Lacob told The San Francisco Standard’s Tim Kawakami.

“It’s never the same every year,” Lacob said. “There’s always changes, so we have to anticipate some of those and look at how we want to form the team for next year. But Ohemaa deserves a little bit of vacation here. Yep. At least in the month of November.”

“She’s done an incredible job, and I think we do have a great opportunity to run it back,” Lacob continued. “… We have some salary-cap room to add some people if we wanted to. There’s some interesting free agents out there, and I think we just have to assess how we want to build the team for next year.”

Lacob now owns champions in two leagues, with four Warriors titles before the Valkyries’ first.

“I think every year we want to do the same thing: be as good as we can possibly be,” Lacob explained. “And I know we can improve on the roster. We can have a better roster next year than this year, and that’s the goal. Plus, some of these players that are young have the experience now of winning. They’re going to be better.”

“So look, the goal is to win it again,” Lacob added. “I said that before. I’m not making any specific claims. But we can do pretty well over the next several years, and I think have a chance to win multiple championships if we play our cards right.”

Golden State traded the No. 8 pick in the 2026 draft, which became Flau’jae Johnson, for two second-round picks. Nyanin said at the team’s media day that her job is to plan for what could happen in the future as well as the present.

“We thought we had the opportunity to potentially sign another athlete,” Nyanin said. “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 near and dear to me.”

The Valkyries did not add a second max free agent alongside Gabby Williams in 2026. Williams signed with Golden State in April after four seasons with the Seattle Storm and was named Finals MVP after scoring 30 points in Game 7.

Nobody on the roster cared about scoring, Williams said after the clincher.

“All it took was good people. That’s it,” Williams said. “All we heard last year, ‘We don’t have no stars, we don’t have no talent.’ Yeah right. We got good people. We got winners. We got people who are ready to put their bodies on the floor to win a game.”

“They don’t care about scoring,” Williams continued. “They just want to play defense and rebound and do whatever it takes. We built a beautiful culture here.”

Williams led Golden State at 14.4 points per game. She made the All-Defensive First Team, and Veronica Burton and Kiah Stokes made the second team, CBS Sports reported. The Valkyries attempted a league-record 30.3 3-pointers per game and went 32-12, closing the regular season 22-5.

Iliana Rupert, who re-signed on a multi-year deal in April, missed the 2026 season on maternity leave.

Kayla Thornton, Tiffany Hayes, and Aminata Gueye are unrestricted free agents. Cecilia Zandalasini and Laeticia Amihere are restricted, and Kaitlyn Chen is reserved, according to Her Hoop Stats.

Justė Jocytė, the No. 5 pick in 2025, is under her rookie-scale contract. In interviews with Lithuanian outlets on Nov. 8 and Nov. 9, she told reporters she does not really want to return.

CBS Sports named Napheesa Collier, Jackie Young, Kelsey Mitchell, and Kelsey Plum as the biggest names on the market and called Collier the most natural fit. Minnesota cannot use the core designation on Collier because of a new rule for players with seven or more years of service.

Free agents can begin signing Feb. 16. The Valkyries hold the No. 14 pick in the April 12 draft, along with Nos. 29 and 44.