Valkyries waive 6 players before 2026 WNBA season

OAKLAND – The hardest part of training camp has begun for the Golden State Valkyries– the inevitable roster crunch.

The Valkyries have waived Marta Suárez, Ashlon Jackson, Mariella Fasoula, Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda, Miela Sowah, and Cate Reese, the team announced Saturday afternoon.

With the start of the regular season in less than a week and international players returning from their sojourns abroad, Golden State made some necessary but difficult roster cuts to get closer to what will be their final roster.

Rookies Suárez and Jackson are the notable names among those in this round of roster cuts, particularly Suárez, as she, through no fault of her own, happened to be a part of the dramatic draft night trade that caused severe backlash for the Valkyries from the WNBA world at large.

While both players flashed promise in the Valkyries’ lone preseason game, this move signals that Golden State prefers to go with experience and continuity this season, rather than growth and development.

At practice on Saturday, before the roster cuts were announced, coach Natalie Nakase acknowledged the difficulty of these decisions but expressed that it’s part of the process at this time of the year.

“Just going to be honest, everyone has been impressive from top to bottom,” Nakase said.  “[From] learning, wanting to be here, [and] challenging each other every single day. So it’s definitely going to be a hard decision. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to pick the best 14 that fit together. It’s going to be tough.”

How the developmental spots offer second chances

As dramatic as these roster cuts sound, these players still have a chance to stick around the Valkyries’ facilities.

With the WNBA adding two developmental roster spots for every team in the new CBA, Golden State can re-sign any of these players to those designations. Players just have to be waived and clear waivers before they can be re-signed to a developmental spot.

Development players can participate in all training sessions and practices, and travel with the team. However, they can only be on the active roster for 12 games.

Among this round of cuts, Suárez and Jackson seem to have the inside track on earning those final, precious developmental spots.

It’s hard to see Golden State cutting bait on their two second-round rookies this quickly, even though the Valkyries have done that in the past. Nakase has talked highly of both players throughout training camp, and they would each benefit from learning the Valkyries system on a developmental contract.

Still, Sowah’s impressive shooting in the preseason and Fasoula’s unique skill set as a big also give them each a chance of earning a developmental contract.

As for the financial minutia of how the developmental spots work, players on developmental contracts do not count against a team’s roster count or salary cap space and receive approximately $6,000, or the pro-rated minimum, for their active games. Otherwise, they will earn a $750-per-week stipend with standard player benefits.

Regardless, this group of roster cuts still has some hope of earning a WNBA contract, even if it’s not a standard one.

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