Michael Voepel May 12, 2026, 08:30 AM ET

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Michael Voepel is a senior writer who covers the WNBA, women's college basketball and other college sports. Voepel began covering women's basketball in 1984, and has been with ESPN since 1996.

The Golden State Valkyries were a feel-good story in their 2025 inaugural season as they began a new wave of WNBA expansion. But a year later, as is the nature of professional sports, their personnel moves have been criticized. It's like a rite of passage for a new franchise in any sport to go from hearing, "Isn't this awesome?" to "What the heck are you doing?"

Still, Golden State is off to a 2-0 start and opens at No. 2 as ESPN's WNBA Power Rankings debut for the 2026 season. The Valkyries took heat for their draft-day trade of No. 8 pick Flau'jae Johnson to the Seattle Storm for No. 16 Marta Suarez , only to then cut Suarez. Their initial reticence to discuss the reasoning only brought more questions.…