The 2026 Golden State Valkyries season is the franchise's second season in the Women's National Basketball Association and second under head coach Natalie Nakase.
Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College/Club Outcome Ref.18Flau'jae JohnsonGLSUTraded to Seattle Storm, in exchange for Marta Suárez and a 2028 second-round pick223Ashlon JacksonGDukeWaived on May 2, 2026338Kokoro TanakaG Eneos Sunflowers
Transactions
Front office and coaching DateDetails Ref. January 22, 2026 Hired Denise Romero as Vice President of Basketball Operations
Free agency Re-signed / extensions Player Date Notes Ref. Veronica Burton April 11, 2026 Three-year deal Iliana Rupert April 12, 2026 Multi-year contract Janelle Salaün Cecilia Zandalasini One-year deal Kayla Thornton April 13, 2026 One-year contract
Additions Player Date Notes Former Team Ref. Gabby Williams April 12, 2026 Multi-year deal Seattle Storm Justė Jocytė Rookie contract activated Uni Girona CB Mariella Fasoula Training camp contract Beşiktaş Kiah Stokes April 13, 2026 Multi-year deal Las Vegas Aces Miela Sowah May 6, 2026 Player Development contract Townsville Fire Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda May 8, 2026 Replacement contract Vanderbilt
Subtractions / unsigned Player Date Reason New Team Ref. Ashlon Jackson May 2, 2026 Waived Connecticut Sun Marta Suárez Phoenix Mercury Mariella Fasoula Toronto Tempo Carla Leite April 3, 2026 2026 WNBA expansion draft Portland Fire María Conde Toronto Tempo Monique Billings April 11, 2026 Free agency Indiana Fever Temi Fagbenle April 14, 2026 Toronto Tempo Kate Martin May 7, 2026 Waived Los Angeles Sparks
Roster
Depth chart Pos.StarterBench PGVeronica BurtonKaitlyn Chen SGKaila CharlesJustė Jocytė Tiffany Hayes SFGabby WilliamsCecilia Zandalasini PFKayla ThorntonJanelle Salaün Laeticia Amihere CKiah StokesIliana Rupert
Schedule
Preseason Golden State played one preseason game this year at the Chase Center.
| 1 | April 25 | Seattle | W 78–76 | Burton, Sowah (14) | Kate Martin (7) | Burton, Chen (3) | Chase Center18,064 | 1–0
Regular season
| 1 | May 8 | @ Seattle | W 91–80 | Janelle Salaün (20) | Kayla Thornton (8) | Veronica Burton (6) | Climate Pledge Arena | 1–0
| 2 | May 10 | Phoenix | W 95–79 | Janelle Salaün (21) | Laeticia Amihere (6) | Veronica Burton (12) | Chase Center18,064 | 2–0
| 3 | May 13 | Chicago | L 63–69 | Gabby Williams (18) | Kiah Stokes (11) | Veronica Burton (4) | Chase Center18,064 | 2–1
| 4 | May 21 | @ New York | W 87–70 | Gabby Williams (16) | Laeticia Amihere (8) | Veronica Burton (7) | Barclays Center15,862 | 3–1
| 5 | May 22 | @ Indiana | L 82–90 | Tiffany Hayes (19) | Charles, Stokes (7) | Burton, Williams (3) | Gainbridge Fieldhouse16,742 | 3–2
| 6 | May 25 | Connecticut | W 97–70 | Gabby Williams (15) | Kayla Thornton (8) | Veronica Burton (6) | Chase Center18,064 | 4–2
| 7 | May 28 | Indiana | W 90–88 | Veronica Burton (25) | Janelle Salaün (7) | Gabby Williams (6) | Chase Center18,064 | 5–2
| 8 | May 31 | Las Vegas | L 81–91 | Gabby Williams (20) | Kiah Stokes (7) | Veronica Burton (5) | Chase Center18,064 | 5–3
| bgcolor=#FED8B1| 9 | June 2 | Portland | W 95–77 | Kayla Thornton (19) | Kayla Thornton (8) | Veronica Burton (9) | Chase Center18,064 | 6–3
| bgcolor=#FED8B1| 10 | June 4 | @ Minnesota | L 84–87 | Cecilia Zandalasini (18) | Hayes, Salaün, Thornton, Williams (5) | Kaitlyn Chen (5) | Target Center9,105 | 6–4
| bgcolor=#FED8B1| 11 | June 6 | @ Las Vegas | L 79–84 | Gabby Williams (27) | Kayla Thornton (9) | Burton, Charles, Hayes (3) | Michelob Ultra Arena10,467 | 6–5
| bgcolor=#FED8B1| 12 | June 9 | Phoenix | W 87–81 | Burton, Williams (25) | Kaila Charles (6) | Veronica Burton (8) | Chase Center18,064 | 7–5
| bgcolor=#FED8B1| 13 | June 12 | @ Seattle | W 76–72 | Janelle Salaün (22) | Janelle Salaün (7) | Veronica Burton (8) | Climate Pledge Arena10,648 | 8–5
| bgcolor=#FED8B1| 14 | June 15 | Los Angeles | W 78–58 | Gabby Williams (16) | Kaila Charles (8) | Kaila Charles (5) | Chase Center18,064 | 9–5
| bgcolor=#FED8B1| 15 | June 17 | Dallas | W 91–80 | Gabby Williams (25) | Kayla Thornton (11) | Veronica Burton (5) | Chase Center18,064 | 10–5
| 16 | June 19 | Minnesota | L 75–81 | Cecilia Zandalasini (23) | Gabby Williams (8) | Veronica Burton (5) | Chase Center18,064 | 10–6
| 17 | June 21 | @ Las Vegas | L 73–92 | Cecilia Zandalasini (12) | Kayla Thornton (5) | Kiah Stokes (3) | Michelob Ultra Arena10,350 | 10–7
| 18 | June 24 | Atlanta | W 77–66 | Gabby Williams (23) | Amihere, Burton, Stokes, Thornton, Williams (5) | Veronica Burton (7) | Chase Center18,064 | 11–7
| 19 | June 26 | Atlanta | W 78–75 | Gabby Williams (16) | Janelle Salaün (7) | Tiffany Hayes (5) | Chase Center18,064 | 12–7
| 20 | June 28 | New York | W 76–67 | Kaila Charles (13) | Veronica Burton (6) | Veronica Burton (8) | Chase Center18,064 | 13–7
| 21 | July 4 | @ Atlanta | W 88–83 | Veronica Burton (21) | Kaila Charles (8) | Kaila Charles (5) | Gateway Center Arena3,596 | 14–7
| 22 | July 6 | @ Washington | W 62–49 | Kaitlyn Chen (14) | Kiah Stokes (9) | Kaitlyn Chen (4) | CareFirst Arena4,200 | 15–7
| 23 | July 8 | @ Toronto | W 83–75 | Janelle Salaün (26) | Kayla Thornton (9) | Veronica Burton (6) | Coca-Cola Coliseum8,210 | 16–7
| 24 | July 10 | @ Connecticut | W 79–64 | Veronica Burton (17) | Janelle Salaün (7) | Veronica Burton (6) | Mohegan Sun Arena8,546 | 17–7
| 25 | July 15 | @ Indiana | W 88–75 | Gabby Williams (16) | Kayla Thornton (8) | Veronica Burton (4) | Gainbridge Fieldhouse17,014 | 18–7
| 26 | July 18 | Washington | W 74–69 | Gabby Williams (18) | Amihere, Burton (5) | Veronica Burton (11) | Chase Center18,064 | 19–7
| 27 | July 20 | Washington | L 82–90 | Kaitlyn Chen (20) | Kaila Charles (5) | Veronica Burton (7) | Chase Center18,064 | 19–8 |- align=center |colspan=9 bgcolor="#bbcaff"|All-Star Game
| 28 | July 29 | @ Phoenix | L 89–91 | Cecilia Zandalasini (16) | Kaila Charles (10) | Burton, Hayes (5) | Mortgage Matchup Center10,152 | 19–9
| 29 | August 2 | Toronto | W 96–79 | Janelle Salaün (24) | Kiah Stokes (11) | Veronica Burton (6) | Chase Center18,064 | 20–9
| 30 | August 4 | Toronto | W 92–81 | Janelle Salaün (21) | Veronica Burton (8) | Veronica Burton (7) | Chase Center18,064 | 21–9
| 31 | August 7 | @ Dallas | W 94–76 | Veronica Burton (22) | Kayla Thornton (10) | Veronica Burton (7) | American Airlines Center16,444 | 22–9
| 32 | August 9 | @ Los Angeles | W 84–78 | Cecilia Zandalasini (15) | Stokes, Thornton, Zandalasini (7) | Veronica Burton (7) | Crypto.com Arena15,739 | 23–9
| 33 | August 12 | Chicago | W 91–71 | Tiffany Hayes (22) | Burton, Hayes (6) | Tiffany Hayes (5) | Chase Center18,064 | 24–9
| 34 | August 17 | Dallas | W 78–70 | Gabby Williams (23) | Gabby Williams (7) | Veronica Burton (5) | Chase Center18,064 | 25–9
| 35 | August 19 | Minnesota | L 66–77 | Janelle Salaün (15) | Tiffany Hayes (7) | Veronica Burton (7) | Chase Center18,064 | 25–10
| 36 | August 21 | @ Chicago | L 70–73 | Laeticia Amihere (16) | Tiffany Hayes (7) | Chen, Hayes (4) | Wintrust Arena8,028 | 25–11
| 37 | August 24 | @ Minnesota | W 80–66 | Cecilia Zandalasini (18) | Kiah Stokes (9) | Veronica Burton (9) | Target Center16,001 | 26–11
| 38 | August 26 | @ Connecticut | W 89–64 | Janelle Salaün (15) | Kaila Charles (8) | Veronica Burton (7) | Mohegan Sun Arena7,739 | 27–11
| 39 | August 27 | @ New York | W 79–60 | Cecilia Zandalasini (20) | Kiah Stokes (9) | Veronica Burton (13) | Barclays Center17,579 | 28–11
| 40 | August 30 | @ Portland | W 86–69 | Tiffany Hayes (18) | Kaila Charles (8) | Veronica Burton (6) | Moda Center15,146 | 29–11
| 41 | September 18 | Portland | W 82–66 | Amihere, Chen (17) | Kiah Stokes (9) | Tiffany Hayes (7) | Chase Center18,064 | 30–11
| 42 | September 19 | Seattle | W 70–57 | Kaila Charles (16) | Kaila Charles (12) | Tiffany Hayes (6) | Chase Center18,064 | 31–11
| 43 | September 22 | @ Portland | L 82–90 (OT) | Gabby Williams (17) | Burton, Stokes, Thornton (7) | Veronica Burton (8) | Moda Center14,815 | 31–12
| 44 | September 24 | @ Los Angeles | W 76–75 | Kaitlyn Chen (18) | Kiah Stokes (12) | Veronica Burton (5) | Crypto.com Arena15,965 | 32–12
Notes: Games highlighted in represent Commissioner's Cup games.
Standings
References
External links Official website of the Golden State Valkyries