Kaitlyn Chen, the first Taiwanese-American basketball player drafted by the WNBA, has been waived by the Golden State Valkyries on the eve of the San Francisco-based expansion team’s inaugural season.
The Valkyries on Wednesday announced they were parting ways with Chen, along with another four players, as they finalized the 12-player roster for their inaugural opener today against the Los Angeles Sparks.
Under WNBA rules, after a player is placed on waivers, other teams can pick her up within the following 48 hours, or she would become an unrestricted free agent, open to a new contract with any team in the league.
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Rosalina Lee, writing for Sports Illustrated’s Women’s Fastbreak site, called Chen a Bay Area fan favorite, making her surprising release “a tough pill to swallow for many.”
The Valkyries waiving Chen came about one month after they drafted her on April 14 in the third round, as an overall 30th pick, about a week after she helped the University of Connecticut lift their 12th national championship trophy.
She previously played for Princeton University and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Ivy League tournament three times from 2022 to last year, before she suited up for Connecticut.
Chen played in both of the Valkyries’ pre-season games, recording two points, three rebounds and one assist in 12 minutes and 38 seconds on the floor.
Matt Lively, a CBS Sports reporter covering the Bay Area, described Chen as one of the two “notable cuts” by the Valkyries, along with her Canadian teammate Laeticia Amihere.
With first-round pick Juste Jocyte of Lithuania expected to debut next year, the Valkyries would have none of their 2025 draftees on their inaugural roster, Lively said.
The news site The San Francisco Standard said the Valkyries “are not acting like most [professional] expansion teams,” which “rely on an infusion of young talent to build a foundation for the future.”
However, it has been formidable for the WNBA draftees beyond the first round to find a place on a team, given the limited spots of the growing league.
San Francisco’s waivers showed just how competitive it is to make a WNBA roster, when even talented players such as Chen, with big support and strong pre-season showings, are waived, Lee said.
Chen still has a chance to get picked up by another team or play overseas and return to the WNBA more prepared and mature, Lee added.
Founded in 1997 with eight teams, the WNBA had remained at 12 teams since the Atlanta Dream joined in 2008, before the addition of the Valkyries. That translates to 156 spots in the 13-team league.
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