Who are the players leaving Valkyries for FIBA World Cup?

With the FIBA World Cup break less than a week away, Golden State Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase revealed when the players committed to their national teams will head overseas to Germany in preparation for the international tournament.

“They will be with us till New York,” Nakase said before the front end of the Valkyries’ back-to-back with the Connecticut Sun and New York Liberty.

As a result, the Valkyries will be without All-Star Gabby Williams, Cecilia Zandalasini and Sixth Player of the Year frontrunner Janelle Salaun for their Aug. 30 game against the Portland Fire, their final game before the break.

Williams and Salaun will represent France on the French national team, while Zandalasini will represent Italy on the Italian national team. Nakase, who will head overseas as one of Team USA’s assistant coaches under Kara Lawson, will maintain her coaching duties right up to the break.

It’s awkward timing for the Valkyries and the rest of the league, given that the WNBA will only have a handful of regular season games left to play before the postseason starts after coming back. But Nakase does not seem worried that the break may potentially disrupt their momentum and rhythm, pointing to how the Valkyries have planned for this eventuality.

“It’s only going to interrupt it if you allow it to,” Nakase said earlier this week. “We planned it. I’ve been through it with the Olympics when I was with Vegas. I can’t remember exactly the amount of games that came after, but it’s only going to be interrupted if you don’t plan for it. So our leadership plan for it, and we do a good job communicating if there are any hiccups.”

Opportunities for the end of the bench

While the Valkyries will only be missing their international players for just one game (presuming they return right after the break), they’ll still be without a combined average of 63.5 minutes and 36.0 points. That makes for ample opportunity for the end of the Valkyries’ bench, namely rookie Juste Jocyte.

The fifth overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft hasn’t been able to crack Nakase’s rotation yet, appearing in only 11 games this season, mostly in garbage time. Nakase has emphasized that while Jocyte continues to do well in the “stay ready” scrimmages the reserves at the end of the bench participate in, the Valkyries coach said the 20-year-old is still growing and that her development “won’t happen overnight.”

Jocyte, who was the subject of several trade rumors in a potential package for Kelsey Plum around the trade deadline, has maintained a day-by-day approach to the lack of playing time.

“You start asking yourself questions, doubting yourself even a little bit,” Jocyte told the SF Chronicle. “But for me, it’s just having the right people around me to lead me in the right direction and just comforting me when I need to. So I’ve been dealing, of course, with some thoughts and everything, but just trying to go day-by-day.”

With the postseason on the horizon and the Valkyries still chasing a top-three seed, the Fire game may be the last time Jocyte plays meaningful minutes this season.

Developmental players Miela Sowah and Ashten Prechtel are also positioned to see some more playing time, as the two are expected to be activated for every game for the rest of the season.

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