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.
Carla Leite has been playing well recently
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.
Over ten games in the French league, Leite is currently averaging 16.4 points on 47.9 percent shooting from the field and 41.7 percent from three, 1.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.3 steals. She can get to the rim, set up her teammates, and guard on the perimeter. Her 3-point shot is still rather up-and-down but Leite certainly has potential as a shooter and is not afraid to take shots, even if they are not falling.
Turnovers are the main aspect of her game that reveals how young Leite still is. Over the six games she played in December, she totaled 17 turnovers. The easiest way to fix that is to allow her to work through her mistakes, as she gets older and matures.
If Leite chooses to come to the WNBA in 2025 or 2026, the Golden State Valkyries will undoubtedly have developmental minutes available for her. With the right development and in the right system, Leite could easily turn out to be the steal of the expansion draft. The Wings may not have that same opportunity to develop players as the Valkyries since they need to balance the line between building a winning team around Arike Ogunbowale and developing whoever they draft with the number-one pick in 2025–most likely Paige Bueckers—in the next few seasons.
Still, letting go of a prospect as talented as Leite just does not look like a solid move, especially with how she has been playing lately. If the Wings have a successful season with the players they chose to protect in the expansion draft in 2025, the decision will look much better, but for now, it remains questionable.