Rae Burrell, Awak Kuier Named as Potential Valkyries Shooting Additions

The Athletic’s Sabreena Merchant wants the Golden State Valkyries to add more shooting. In a Nov. 10 look at every WNBA team’s top offseason priority, she wrote that the champions should sign one efficient shooter or scorer, and that their “most glaring hole is a 3-point shooting threat.”

The three players she named were Rae Burrell, Awak Kuier, and Karlie Samuelson.

Golden State won its first title on Oct. 31, beating Atlanta 68-63 in Game 7 after a 32-12 season in which it attempted a league-record 30.3 3-pointers per game. Gabby Williams had 2 points at halftime of that game and finished with 30, and her 28 second-half points set a Finals record for points in a half.

Burrell shot 38.3% from beyond the arc for Los Angeles and ranked 18th in the league in made 3-pointers, according to Merchant. Because she is a restricted free agent, per Her Hoop Stats’ free agent list, the Sparks can match any offer sheet she signs.

By Merchant’s count, Kuier made 39% of her 3-pointers in 2026, and Merchant described her as the type of switchable wing defender who fits Natalie Nakase’s system. Dallas holds her restricted rights.

Samuelson, a Stanford graduate, is a career 37.1% 3-point shooter who “works her tail off on defense,” Merchant wrote. Portland had her at the end of 2026. She is unrestricted.

The Valkyries have $3.2 million guaranteed for 2027, CBS Sports reported, and the league’s salary cap was $7 million in 2026.

“We have some salary-cap room to add some people if we wanted to,” owner Joe Lacob told The San Francisco Standard’s Tim Kawakami.

Golden State traded the No. 8 pick in the 2026 draft, which became Flau’jae Johnson, for two second-round picks. The Valkyries did not add a second max free agent alongside Williams that offseason.

“We thought we had the opportunity to potentially sign another athlete,” general manager Ohemaa Nyanin said at the team’s media day. “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.”

Three Valkyries are unrestricted free agents: Kayla Thornton, Tiffany Hayes, and Aminata Gueye. Golden State holds restricted rights to Cecilia Zandalasini and Laeticia Amihere, and Kaitlyn Chen is a reserved player.

Williams led Golden State at 14.4 points per game and made the All-Defensive First Team. Veronica Burton and Kiah Stokes were on the second team. According to CBS Sports, no team in league history had won a title without an All-WNBA player until the Valkyries did it.

Zandalasini shot 40.7% from 3-point range in 2025 on a career-high 4.8 attempts per game, the team said in its 2026 roster preview, and that percentage ranked seventh in the league. Iliana Rupert finished second on that list, at 44.2%.

Rupert re-signed in April on a multi-year deal. She spent the 2026 season on maternity leave.

The Valkyries hold the No. 14 pick in the April 12 draft, along with Nos. 29 and 44.