Valkyries Select Liberty Sixth Woman in Expansion Draft

Kayla Thornton is on her way to the Bay Area after two seasons with the New York Liberty.

Geoff Magliocchetti | Dec 7, 2024

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

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New York Liberty

The New York Liberty's sixth woman is on her way to the WNBA's 13th franchise.

The Golden State Valkyries used one of their 12 picks in Friday's expansion draft proceedings to add Kayla Thornton, one of the newly-crowned WNBA champions, to their original roster. Thornton's selection was originally reported by Sabreena Merchant and Marcus Thompson of The Athletic.

Thornton's Liberty tenure end after two seasons, both of which ended in the WNBA Finals. Set to enter her 10th WNBA season out of UTEP, Thornton averaged 5.0 points and 3.1 rebounds and played in every one of a possible 101 games between the regular season and the postseason.

A 2015 entrant with Washington before spending six years with the Dallas Wings, Thornton originally arrived to Brooklyn in the multi-pronged trade that also acquired Jonquel Jones from the Connecticut Sun. She has established herself as one of the most valuable bench players in the league and drew notable attention for her two-way game.

This time around, Thornton leaped into the Liberty starting lineup while Courtney Vandersloot was on bereavement leave in the early summer portions of the season. In those appearances, Thornton averaged 9.5 points and 4.3 rebounds amidst a revolution from the outside that saw her hit a career-best 45 three-pointers. Thornton also earned over 20 minutes of action in the Liberty's victorious championship finale over Minnesota in October, as sterling defensive work on her 32nd birthday paved the way to a 67-62 triumph.

Moving to the Bay Area will reunite Thornton with former Liberty director of basketball operations/assistant general manager Ohema Nyanin, who serves as the original general manager of the Valkyries. Golden State was allowed to pick one name from an unprotected list of players and draft rights or able to make deals with teams that could involve agreements to stay away from certain names. The Valkyries selected one player from every team except the Seattle Storm.

Golden State makes the first of consecutive visits to Barclays Center on May 27, with an immediate rematch destined for two nights later. The proceedings will no doubt feature a video tribute, as well as the presentation of a championship ring, to Thornton, who left an undeniable mark on the history of the Liberty program despite her relative metropolitan brevity.

View the full expansion draft results below ...

Atlanta: Iliana Rupert
Chicago: Maria Conde
Connecticut: Veronica Burton
Dallas: Carla Leite
Indiana: Temi Fagenbenle
Las Vegas: Kate Martin
Los Angeles: Stephanie Talbot
Minnesota: Cecilia Zandalasini
LIBERTY: Kayla Thornton
Phoenix: Monique Billings
Seattle: No Selection
Washington: Julie Vanloo

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Published Dec 6, 2024|Modified Dec 7, 2024

GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI

Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks