The Golden State Valkyries entered their inaugural season in the WNBA with very low expectations. The team's win total was set at just 7.5 games at ESPN BET prior to the start of the year. But just five weeks in the 2025 season, the Valkyries have won five of their first 10 games. This has pushed their win total from 7.5 to 15.5 games. Even with the fast start and strong play through the first quarter of the season, the Valkyries are still listed at +220 to make the playoffs and -300 to miss the playoffs.
Do the Valkyries have a legitimate shot at the postseason as an expansion team in its first season and is there value on backing the team right now? Let's explore.
All odds are accurate as of time stamp. For the latest odds go to ESPN BET.
The Valkyries don't have any superstar players on the team but have already shown that they can play hard on a nightly basis. Golden State has a highly efficient offense, ranking second in the WNBA in 3-point attempt rate, shooting 45% of their shots from behind the arc and fourth in the league in free throw attempt rate. The Valkyries' offense is still below average (11th in offensive rating with 98.3 points per 100 possessions), but the team's offensive style helps bridge its talent deficiency and keep games competitive.
The Valkyries also crash the boards extremely well, ranking second in defensive rebounding rate (77.9%) and fourth in offensive rebound percentage (26.8%). Golden State is great at ending opponents' possessions quickly while simultaneously generating more possessions at the offensive end of the court.
When you combine a highly-efficient offensive approach with and ability to rebound at both ends of the court, you get a team that can maximize its success on a game-to-game basis, and it's showing in the early results. The Valkyries currently rank seventh in the WNBA in win percentage and eighth in scoring differential, in a league where the top eight teams make the playoffs.
The Valkyries have already played the first place New York Liberty twice on the road and have also faced the second place Minnesota Lynx. Five of Golden State's first 10 games were against the top-5 teams in the league and the Valkyries have already defeated perennial playoff contenders like the Seattle Storm and Las Vegas Aces.
The team will have to overcome the challenge of losing three rotation players for the next few weeks, rookie Janelle Salaun, center Temi Fagbenle and guard Julie Vanloo, who are all participating in EuroBasket. And the team struggled in their most-recent game without those players, losing to the last-place Dallas Wings on Tuesday. Golden State has five more games in June, three against elite teams (Indiana Fever, Liberty and Storm) and two teams at the bottom of the league (Connecticut Sun and Chicago Sky). The Valkyries need to win at least two of those games to keep their momentum going and still have a reasonable chance to do so.
The Valkyries appear to be a strong value bet to make the playoffs at +220. The data suggests that Golden State's relatively fast start isn't a fluke, and the team has played a successful brand of basketball against a tough schedule while consistently defeating teams below them in the standings. The Valkyries current win percentage (45.5%) would have the made playoffs in every season since 2016, and if the team can continue to win at the same rate, they have a strong chance to make the playoffs this season as well.