When the Golden State Valkyries selected Carla Leite with their fourth selection in the expansion draft, everyone had the same reaction: confusion. Leite is a young and talented guard with one of the highest ceilings of any of the league's new players, and she hadn't even gotten a chance to don a Dallas Wings uniform.
Leite was drafted last season with the ninth pick in the first round, but chose to stay overseas for one more season. There was still some growing she wanted to do, and it paid off because she led her team, Villeneuve d'Ascq, to a EuroCup championship, and won MVP.
The 5'9" guard has a smooth handle, can finish at the rim, and her midrange pull-up game is nice. That doesn't even account for her top-tier vision, which propels her stellar playmaking. Pairing with Paige Bueckers could have been a match made in heaven, but instead, Leite will start her WNBA career in what the Valkyries affectionately refer to as Balhalla.
Paige and Arike would thrive with a playmaking guard
Bueckers is a talented player. She can play the point guard role in spurts, but trying to put her there primarily doesn't take advantage of her full skill set and impact. The gravity she has as an off-ball player opens up the floor for her teammates, but the point guard needs to have those playmaking chops.
Arike Ogunbowale is a certified bucket-getter, but she's not a high-level passer. There's nothing wrong with that, either. You need players who can get their own shot, but that means someone else needs to initiate the offense, and that's what Carla Leite could have brought to the table. Ogunbowale has had a rough start to her season offensively. A pure point guard could set her up for easier shots.
Leite had a rough first game with Golden State (two points, one assist), but in fairness to her, they were tasked with playing the Los Angeles Sparks in Kelsey Plum's debut game. Plum went off, scoring 37 points, and it didn't help that Dearica Hamby had an efficient shooting night, going 50% from the field for 14 points. Hamby was snatching rebounds and forcing turnovers all night. She was a menace.
That's a tough way to start your WNBA career. She bounced back in the Valks' second game with 10 points and three assists, helping them knock off the Washington Mystics for Golden State's first-ever win as a franchise.
Nobody knows who the Wings chose to protect in the expansion draft, for sure. That information is kept secret. Nobody wants to alienate the remaining players on their team who weren't protected but also weren't selected. I understand it. But I'd really like to know why Leite wasn't seen as a perfect fit to play and grow with Paige and Arike. Because she is.