Golden State Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin answers questions during media day in the Sephora Performance Center in Oakland on May 5.
Yalonda M. James/S.F. Chronicle
The Golden State Valkyries stood pat at the WNBA trade deadline, choosing to — in the words of head coach Natalie Nakase — not “f— with” the on-court product that has led to a 21-9 record. Their inaction signaled a belief that this group of players can make a deep playoff push.
Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin, in a phone interview with the Chronicle on Thursday morning, said her end goal is to win a championship, but that her decision to pass on a trade didn’t directly reflect whether or not she believes Golden State can win a title this season. Rather, it had more to do with preserving the “continuity and the chemistry” her players have fostered in the franchise’s second season.
“Very candidly, the goal is always to win a championship, regardless of the season, right? Like, I think everybody has aspirations to win the championship, and we come to work every day thinking that we can,” Nyanin told the Chronicle. “And so, the decision to not make a trade didn’t directly reflect if we were going to win a championship this season or not, and had everything to do with the continuity and the chemistry that our team has, and that we want to continue to build on to achieve our internal goals.”
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Golden State is operating under a self-imposed five-year championship window from owner Joe Lacob. It seemed like an ambitious goal for an expansion team, but the Valkyries made history by reaching the postseason in Year 1.
A season later, the arrow has continued to point upward, with the franchise appearing to have already broken into the upper tier of contenders.
Asked if Golden State, which enters Thursday’s slate of games tied with the Las Vegas Aces for the WNBA’s second-best record, is ahead of schedule compared to what she had originally envisioned, Nyanin said: “What I’ve talked about more broadly is the journey and embracing every part of the journey. I think we have really put a lot of effort into trying to make sure that we continue to define what Valkyries basketball is, and we want it to equate to winning basketball, right?
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“And so, I think the journey is the journey, and we’re being very objective about how we get to the goal, which is winning a championship. But the timeline, so to speak, isn’t — I don’t think the timeline has adjusted one way or the other as a result of where we’re at right now.”
Nyanin feels strongly that her organization can’t skip any steps. Last Friday, two days before the deadline, Nakase said she and Nyanin are in constant communication about how to best optimize their roster. That includes exploring the trade market. But Nakase acknowledged Nyanin makes the final call in those decisions.
Even with that, it’s clear Nakase at least had some say in Golden State’s deadline decision-making process.
Her comments last Friday were direct. She believes her team’s greatest strengths are their “connectivity,” “care factor” and “culture.” And when you have a strong culture, she said, you “never want to stray away from that.”
“It’s something that’s very rare in sports. I’m sure you guys have felt that with teams that you’ve seen win and have gone on to become dynasties, right? There’s something special about it,” Nakase said Tuesday. “And I think right now where we’re at, we have that right now.”
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Nakase has stated numerous times that Nyanin does not get enough credit for the roster she built last offseason. The Valkyries signed All-Star forward Gabby Williams and starting center Kiah Stokes, two critical pieces to their success this season, in free agency. Nakase called the general manager an “elite” talent evaluator.
“I’m just going to let her be herself and be great at what she does,” Nakase said. “She lets me be great at what I do, so I just want to continue that.”
Nyanin also touched on former first-round pick Justė Jocytė, who opened up to the Chronicle on Tuesday about her lack of playing time and how she’s handled being outside Golden State’s rotation. Jocytė has played in just nine games and is averaging 6.4 minutes per contest.
“It’s a great question. We take that very seriously,” Nyanin said when asked about her philosophy on developing players who don’t receive live game repetitions. “I’m someone that has talked a lot about not wasting any athlete’s years, and so if you’re coming to play with the Valkyries, you know your game is going to get better. … We’ve been extra communicative with every athlete, all 14, as to where they are right now, where we see them and where we think that their future could be.”