Valkyries traded Flau’Jae Johnson for Marta Suarez, who's now been waived
On the night of the WNBA draft, the Golden State Valkyries made a surprising move when they traded eighth overall pick Flau’Jae Johnson of LSU to the Seattle Storm for the draft rights to Marta Suarez and a 2028 second round pick.
That decision looks even more puzzling now as the Valkyries announced Saturday they had waived Suarez and a host of other players, including fellow second-round pick Ashlon Jackson. Suarez was drafted 16th overall by Seattle, while Jackson was selected with the 23rd pick.
Golden State also waived center Mariella Fasoula, guard Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda and Miela Sowah and forward Cate Reese.
The only pick the Valkyries made in this season’s draft Golden State still has the rights to is Japan’s Kokoro Tanaka, who was selected in the third round but is not listed on the club’s active roster.
Golden State general manager Ohemaa Nyanin said the club agreed to trade picks with Seattle ahead of the draft. She largely dodged questions on draft night about trading Johnson.
“I'm going to take a beat to be able to eloquently give a response. I don't have a lot of details to share.” Nyanin said. “One, because I'm exhausted. Two, because I want to be very thoughtful when I'm talking about other humans and their basketball abilities and how they would or would not show up for our squad.”
But she did speak highly of Suarez, who had a breakout season at TCU this past year and was named to the All-Big 12 team.
“Marta is fierce. She's fearless,” Nyanin said on draft night. “She has a very high basketball IQ. Her high character is off the charts. ... We felt like she would be a great fit.”
Suarez played in Golden State’s preseason game against Seattle on April 25. The 6-foot-3 forward from Spain tallied five points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal in 14 minutes of action. In college, she played for Tennessee, Cal and TCU, averaging 17.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game as a senior while shooting 37% from 3-point land.
This is the second consecutive season Golden State has waived its second round draft pick, as Maryland’s Shyanne Sellers didn’t make it through the preseason with last year’s team. The Valkyries first-round pick last year — Lithuanian guard Justė Jocytė — has yet to join the franchise as she continues to play professionally in Europe.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Valkyries traded Flau’Jae Johnson for Marta Suarez, who's now been waived
