French guard continues to make Wings' expansion draft decision look bad
The WNBA finally has a new team, and the Golden State Valkyries’ expansion draft was one of the many milestones for WNBA fans this offseason. The expansion draft was not without surprises. Golden State was obviously focused on landing several proven veterans instead of going all in on youth, the Minnesota Lynx did not lose any of their young players, the Indiana Fever left Temi Fagbenle unprotected, and the Dallas Wings let the Valkyries draft Carla Leite.
Carla Leite may not be incredibly well known among WNBA fans, as she has been playing overseas, but she was the ninth overall pick in the 2024 draft and is considered one of the best young guard prospects out there. Otherwise, she would not have gone so high in the draft. At only 20, she is already a starter on a professional team, competing in the French league and EuroLeague.
The Wings, however, seemed to be focused on protecting their more established players. After all, they could only protect six players and had to make some tough choices. Leite is doing her best to make the decision look bad.
In December, Leite has played six games—five of them coming after the expansion draft. Over that stretch, she scored between 11 and 20 points in every game and dished out more than five assists in five of her last six games. This also marks her team’s best stretch of the season so far. Villeneuve D’Ascq struggled to start the season, losing 10 consecutive games. In December, they have won four of six games.
https://highposthoops.com/french-guard-continues-make-wings-expansion-draft-decision-look-bad