{"id":471,"date":"2026-05-26T05:37:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T05:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=471"},"modified":"2026-05-26T05:37:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T05:37:57","slug":"the-wait-is-over-valkyries-2025-first-round-pick-juste-jocyte-joins-team-after-year-overseas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=471","title":{"rendered":"The wait is over: Valkyries 2025 first-round pick Just\u0117 Jocyt\u0117 joins team after year overseas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 Last year, the Valkyries selected <\/span>Just\u0117 Jocyt\u0117<\/span> (YOU-steh Yo-CHEE-teh) with their first-ever draft pick. For the last 13 months, Golden State allowed the highly-touted Lithuanian guard to <\/span>develop overseas in a classic draft-and-stash maneuver.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Houston Astros starter Tatsuya Imai and 2 relievers throw combined no-hitter against Texas Rangers<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, less than a week after touching down in the Bay, the Valkyries are ready to start collecting on their <\/span>investment<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jocyt\u0117<\/span> had her first full practice with the Valkyries on Sunday, after watching from the sidelines during Golden State\u2019s recent two-game road trip.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Valkyries selected the 20-year-old playmaker fifth overall in the 2025 draft, but spent last season without her as she competed with the Lithuanian national team at EuroBasket, then with Uni Girona CB of the Spanish league.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jocyt\u0117 will be available for the Valkyries for their game against the Connecticut Sun on Monday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While she admitted she is still trying to adjust to the playbook and the new system, her arrival brings Golden State another offensive threat and someone who can be a shot creator for the gritty defensive team.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think I can bring more calmness, I guess, and be more of a pick-and-roll player,\u201d Jocyt\u0117 said after Sunday\u2019s practice. \u201cI feel like this team is very good in one-on-one isolation plays, and spacing out. Me, of course, I will have to get used to it, but I\u2019m not that type of player fully. I prefer pick-and-roll, so I think I bring a different kind of balance.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jocyt\u0117 is coming off a Spanish league season in which she averaged 11.1 points, 4.1 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 45.3% from the field and 35.8% from behind the 3-point line.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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A tall ball handler, Jocyt\u0117 is every bit the 6-foot height the team has listed her at. Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said even while Jocyt\u0117 has been away from the team she\u2019s been going over film. Nakase also thought Jocyt\u0117\u2019s first practice went well Sunday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe looked good,\u201d Nakase said. \u201cShe picked up a lot of it off the video but then now to see her, she flowed really well.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Though she carries a rookie designation, Jocyt\u0117 is a pro basketball veteran. The lefty sharpshooter made her pro debut at 13 in Lithuania, and at 14 became the youngest player to play in the Ligue F\u00e9minine de Basketball (France\u2019s top league).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Valkyries instant analysis: Juste Jocyte debuts in blowout victory over Sun<\/a><\/p>\n

With most of the Valkyries players having played heavy minutes overseas for the past few seasons, Jocyt\u0117\u2019s talent isn\u2019t surprising to her new teammates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cShe\u2019s another versatile guard that can shoot, that can create, that can get to the rim and that can guard multiple positions,\u201d Valkyries guard Kaila Charles told the Bay Area News Group after Monday\u2019s shoot around. \u201cI\u2019m excited to see how she meshes with our team. She\u2019s super young. She\u2019s only 20 and she does have a really high ceiling. I think she\u2019s gonna be fine.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Nakase added, \u201cShe does not act like a young player, for sure. She has a great maturity about her, and that\u2019s what we like too.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jocyt\u0117 profiles as a player who can help the Valkyries on both ends of the floor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In Golden State\u2019s two losses to Indiana and Chicago, the Valkyries struggled when defenses pressed up against their guards and forced them to take tough shots at the rim with the shot clock running down. In both defeats, the Valkyries shot sub-40% from the field and below 35% from the 3-point line.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jocyt\u0117\u2019s proficiency as a pick-and-roll ball handler projects well for a team that can use another player who can get downhill.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Though she doesn\u2019t have high-end athleticism, Jocyt\u0117\u2019s role as a bigger guard will help an undersized Golden State team on the boards. Nakase has experimented with small-ball lineups, with forwards such as Kayla Thornton and Janelle Sala\u00fcn playing center. So expect Jocyt\u0117 to be used in a similar fashion if the matchups are right.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For a team hoping to win a championship in the next four years, Jocyt\u0117\u2019s development will be vital, especially after the Valkyries essentially <\/span>punted<\/span> on this past WNBA draft.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been her developmental potential, paired with a veteran\u2019s on-court demeanor, that has impressed her new teammates so far.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I played against her, one thing I noticed is that no one can speed her up,\u201d Charles said. \u201cShe plays at her own pace, which is really good. So, the fact that she has all that poise and she\u2019s super young, she\u2019s gonna be really fun.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more New York back in NBA Finals for first time since 1999 after beating Cleveland 130-93 to finish sweep<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jocyt\u0117 adds a much-needed creator to Valkyries as Golden State starts four-game homestand<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nThe wait is over: Valkyries 2025 first-round pick Just\u0117 Jocyt\u0117 joins team after year overseas - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=471\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The wait is over: Valkyries 2025 first-round pick Just\u0117 Jocyt\u0117 joins team after year overseas - 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