23
Jul
Player Movement
From Waived to Wanted: Talbot joins Liberty’s title push
Stephanie Talbot #7 of the Golden State Valkyries dribbles the ball up court in the third quarter against the New York Liberty at Chase Center on June 25, 2025 in San Francisco, California. Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images.
After being waived by Golden State, Steph Talbot signs with WNBA title contenders New York Liberty.
The rollercoaster that is life in the WNBA hit home to another Australian in the past 10 days as 2024 Olympic bronze medallist Steph Talbot found a new home in the league, just over a week after being waived.
Talbot was selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the expansion draft late last year and had played 16 games this season.
Her time with the Valkyries ended abruptly when she was waived on July 13, which came as a bit of shock to many as she’d been a solid contributor off the bench, averaging almost 17 minutes per game.
Clearly, those around the league know her worth and what she can bring to the table, and she signed with the defending Champion New York Liberty yesterday on a rest-of-season contract, per Jackie Powell.
With so much movement in the WNBA, nothing is guaranteed, but Talbot landing in New York is seemingly a great fit for her and the Liberty.
There’s obvious familiarity with head coach Sandy Brondello, and Talbot has played some of her best basketball for the Opals with Brondello calling the shots from the sidelines.
New York started the season on a tear, going 9-0, before an injury to last year’s Finals MVP Jonquel Jones hit and since then they’ve gone just 6-6. The Liberty have a phenomenal team, and despite Jones having missed the last 12 games, they still boast 2x WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart, 4x WNBA All-Star Sabrina Ionescu and superstar point guard Natasha Cloud.
They’ve fallen into a rut, but with Jones’ return seemingly imminent, and reports that the Liberty also signed 2019 WNBA Finals MVP Emma Meesseman yesterday, New York is considered by many to be a super team and clear championship favourites.
So where does Talbot fit into all of this? She adds depth to the wing for the Liberty, who announced prior to the season that Betnijah Laney-Hamilton would be out for the season due to injury, while the loss of Kayla Thornton in the expansion draft to Golden State was another blow.
Without those two key pieces to last year’s championship run, New York is lacking depth and while Leonie Fiebich and Kennedy Burke are enjoying strong seasons, you can never have too much depth, especially when adding a player like Talbot who will take on whatever role she is asked to do.
Talbot’s versatility is another aspect of her game that makes her valuable, and Brondello knows all about that.
She can handle the ball for stretches of games and defend multiple positions at a high level, and with the Liberty obviously planning to make a deep run in the playoffs, she can help take some of the load off the key rotation players in the second half of the season.
It should be noted that Talbot is listed as active for today’s game against Indiana, which tips off at 10am (AEST), so she may make her Liberty debut in that contest.
New York kick starts their return from the All-Star break with a three-game home stand, which also includes match-ups against Phoenix and Los Angeles over the weekend.
With almost a week at home before heading out on the road,it will give Talbot a great chance to integrate into the team and familiarise herself with Brondello’s system in New York.
