Total surprise! Talented athlete who can't shoot.

3Cats4CAL said:

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I am guessing she will be waived.

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If Daniels sticks around, I guess I'll have to like her; the Mynx are my favorite pro team,

This was a really bad draft. Somebody had to be picked.

The Valkyries will be terrible.

ClayK said:

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This was a really bad draft. Somebody had to be picked.

The Valkyries will be terrible.

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I will support them, of course, but I fear you are right.

I don't think we expect them to be good. They're building for the future. They sold 10k season tickets and are laying a foundation. (Gift link) https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/valkyries-first-draft-pick-surprises-20275705.php?utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc2ZjaHJvbmljbGUuY29tL3Nwb3J0cy9hcnRpY2xlL3ZhbGt5cmllcy1maXJzdC1kcmFmdC1waWNrLXN1cnByaXNlcy0yMDI3NTcwNS5waHA%3D&time=MTc0NDcyOTkxNDY0OQ%3D%3D&rid=MDAyMjUwYmQtNGY5Ni00OWJkLThkODgtYTNiMDBlNTNkMWI2&sharecount=Ng%3D%3D

From The Athletic:

"Kudos to Golden State, and especially vice president of basketball operations Vanja Ernivec, for building its inaugural roster in an unconventional manner that arguably exploits some other teams' domestic biases. Global talent is significantly untapped, and the Valkyries are using that to their advantage. Unfortunately, this strategy will cause an expansion team to be without half its roster for an extended home stretch.

They now have seven players with European citizenship after drafting Just Jocyt at No. 5 with their first selection. Most of those players appear to be good bets to make the final roster, which will put Golden State in a tremendously strange position when players leave for international duty. EuroBasket takes place from June 18 to June 29, when the Valkyries have a five-game homestand."

Daniel's played SF at Cal and shot a ton of 3 point bricks. That team was so young that we were forced to do that, but it was a bad strategy anyway

At UW she played PF and rarely took outside shots, but they had a much more experienced and balanced team

Still when we played her and UW, Michelle outplayed her and shut her offense down

I think she was drafted for her defense and rebounding, but is that enough for the wnba?

BearBint said:

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3Cats4CAL said:

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I am guessing she will be waived.

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If Daniels sticks around, I guess I'll have to like her; the Mynx are my favorite pro team,

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CalWSportsFan said:

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I actually think Michelle has more long term potential to succeed as a pro.

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The third round of the draft is throwing darts at a wall. Even more so in a depleted draft like this one.

The difference between Daniels and Onyiah is this: It's conceivable, though highly unlikely, that Daniels' athleticism could allow her to become a decent three-point shooter and become a tall 3/4 in the W (off the bench for five minutes, of course).

Onyiah is a five, and what you see is what you get. Most W teams only keep one pure center, and there are certainly questions about Onyiah's ability to score against the taller, stronger W posts.

That said, she should have a solid overseas career if she wants one.

ClayK said:

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CalWSportsFan said:

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I actually think Michelle has more long term potential to succeed as a pro.

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The third round of the draft is throwing darts at a wall. Even more so in a depleted draft like this one.

The difference between Daniels and Onyiah is this: It's conceivable, though highly unlikely, that Daniels' athleticism could allow her to become a decent three-point shooter and become a tall 3/4 in the W (off the bench for five minutes, of course).

Onyiah is a five, and what you see is what you get. Most W teams only keep one pure center, and there are certainly questions about Onyiah's ability to score against the taller, stronger W posts.

That said, she should have a solid overseas career if she wants one.

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To your point, I don't follow the WNBA, but what is the average height of the centers in that league?

Your point about the 3rd round of the draft is right on…which is another reason I was surprised she went in the 2nd, 24th overall

24th is two away from the third round, but I get your point.

24th picks from 2024 working back ..

Elizabeth Kitley
Brea Beal
Jordan Lewis
Trinity Baptiste
Jaylyn Agnew
Anriel Howard

You get my drift.


There are some teams that don't play true posts, but generally every team has at least one 6-5 or taller player. Some of them aren't very good, but the veterans have years of experience in Europe and the W, and also bring a lot more strength to the paint than college posts are used to.

Yep, success late in the draft..or beyond…(think the undrafted Becky Hammon and a couple of other eventual all stars) is rare, but hope springs eternal for the players. I remember Recee Caldwell from Cal was undrafted a couple of years ago, but the last player cut by the Storm