The Golden State Valkyries won their first championship less than two weeks ago, but what should have been a celebratory and drama-free offseason has already been turned on its head by an explosive interview from Juste Jocyte, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, in her native Lithuania.
Speaking to BasketNews, Jocytė expressed some doubt about her future in the Bay Area after a frustrating campaign on a personal level. Jocytė, the first draft pick in Valkyries history, barely played during her rookie season. She averaged 3.1 points and 1.1 assists in 8.1 minutes over 16 appearances, and played five total minutes in the playoffs.
As the offseason unfolds, let’s take a closer look at what we know about the situation.
What did Jocytė say?
Jocytė spoke in Lithuanian, so we only have the English translation of her quotes. It’s therefore unfair to quote those translations directly, but here is a summary of her key points:
- Jocytė had mixed feelings about the season because she didn’t get to play much en route to the title.
- Jocytė is unsure about returning to the Valkyries due to limited playing time and a fraught relationship with coach Natalie Nakase.
- Jocytė never fully understood why she was out of the rotation and received different explanations throughout the season.
- Jocytė lamented a lack of communication from Nakase and general manager Ohemaa Nyanin.
Valkyries beat writer Kenzo Fukada subsequently reported that Jocytė and her camp were frustrated that Nakase “wasn’t consistent with her reasoning to the media regarding why she didn’t play, and that Nakase cycling through different reasons for not giving Jocytė playing time made it difficult for her to decipher what she needed to do to climb the rotation.”
How have the Valkyries addressed the situation?
Neither Nakase nor Nyanin has done any media since Jocytė’s interview, but Valkyries owner Joe Lacob did speak about the situation with Tim Kawakami on his podcast.
“I kind of understand. She’s competitive and would like to win and didn’t play,” Lacob said. “But you know, she’s also only 20. We had a pretty great roster, very deep. I think she can be a very good player, and we’d really love to have her back.
“I think she will certainly earn a lot more playing time in the future. I can understand there are emotional moments in the moment. She didn’t get to play as much as she wanted to, and that’s understandable.”
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Why does all of this matter?
Why all the hullabaloo about someone who didn’t play on a championship team? Well, Jocytė is not your usual end-of-the-bench player who’s just filling out the roster.
Jocytė was a phenom growing up in Europe. She led Lithuania to a silver medal at the U16 European championships as a 13-year-old and turned pro at 14 with ASVEL Lyon. She became the youngest player to appear in France’s Ligue Féminine de Basketball and EuroBasket Women.
Before coming over to the WNBA, she led Lyon to the semifinals in EuroCup Women 2025 (along with Dominique Malonga) and helped Spar Girona to a fourth-place finish in EuroLeague Women 2026. Standing 6 feet, she’s a big, left-handed guard who can play with or without the ball, and has already proven herself on the biggest stages as a teenager.
Jocytė is still only 20, and would be starting her junior year if she went the collegiate route. She still has a lot of potential, and the Valkyries made a big investment in her when they selected her No. 5 overall in 2025. Jocytė is under contract through 2028, with a team option for 2029, and will make less than $400K next season.
While the Valkyries have plenty of cap space right now, that may not be the case moving forward if they end up signing another max player in free agency this winter. Regardless, having cheap, young talent will be crucial as they try to extend their title window. And even the Valkyries, a team that traded the No. 8 pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft for two second-rounders, will not want to punt on a former No. 5 pick.
What options do Jocytė and the Valkyries have?
Jocytė’s contract is unprotected, so the Valkyries could waive her ahead of next season for no cost to open up a roster spot and some additional cap space. That seems highly unlikely.
If Jocytė makes it clear that she doesn’t want to play for the Valkyries again, they could look to trade her this offseason. Given her age, potential and cheap salary, you have to imagine that a number of teams would be interested, but what would they be willing to give up? Determining Jocytė’s trade value is tricky, especially after her comments, which removed much of the Valkyries’ leverage.
- Jocytė sits out the 2027 season
Lithuania has been selected as one of the hosts for EuroBasket Women 2027, meaning the country has automatically qualified for the tournament, set for June 16-27. Jocytė was already going to miss a chunk of the 2027 WNBA season to participate in EuroBasket.
What if she skips out on the WNBA entirely in order to prepare for one of the biggest competitions in her career and her country’s history? That is not inconceivable, especially if she remains on the Valkyries’ roster heading into the spring. The Valkyries would retain her rights in that scenario, though that wouldn’t mean much with expansion looming.
- Jocytė returns to the Valkyries
Of course, it’s always possible that Jocytė and the Valkyries smooth things over and she returns to the team next season. Again, she’s still only 20, has so much room to grow and is on a rookie contract. There’s a world where she becomes part of the Valkyries’ rotation next season and an important piece of their future.
More expansion drafts looming
It’s worth noting that this is the last offseason without an expansion draft until 2030. The Cleveland Sirens will join the league in 2028, followed by the Detroit franchise in 2029 and the Philadelphia franchise in 2030. Therefore, the Valkyries have extra pressure to sort out the Jocytė saga this offseason.
Otherwise, they’d either have to protect her in the coming expansion drafts — potentially ahead of more important players — or risk leaving her unprotected and losing her for nothing.
