Sparks vs. Valkyries WNBA Picks & Predictions (Friday)
The 2025 Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) regular season gets underway with six teams on the slate Friday night. The entire tripleheader will be broadcast on ION, beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET with the Atlanta Dream and Washington Mystics or the Minnesota Lynx and Dallas Wings. At 10:00 p.m. ET, the slate wraps up with the Los Angeles Sparks taking on the league’s newest entry, the Golden State Valkyries.
Let’s build our bankroll with our best WNBA bets for Friday, May 16th’s game Sparks vs. Valkyries.
Friday’s Best WNBA Picks: Sparks vs. Valkyries
WNBA odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All picks are for 1 unit
The Valkyries make their WNBA debut on Friday night against potential in-state rival Los Angeles.
What do we know about Golden State? Well, veteran Tiffany Hayes is going to be a huge part of the offense, giving the newest entry a solid veteran presence. Juste Jocyte was added via the 2025 WNBA Draft, but unfortunately, she will not play in 2025. She elected to play for her native Lithuania, and there is no official timeline on when she might opt to go to San Francisco
Golden State could be better defensively than your average expansion team, and that figures to be its calling card. Veronica Burton, Temi Fagbenle and Kayla Thornton give the team a nice defensive base. They’ll be a tough team to play at times. However, Friday won’t be one of those times.
Los Angeles is on the come-up, looking to turn things around after a dismal 2024. The Sparks added some shine with Kelsey Plum coming over from the Las Vegas Aces, while also adding Aari McDonald and Odyssey Sims to the backcourt. With the likes of Dearica Hamby, Rickea Jackson and Azura Stevens, this team could be surprisingly effective, and a steal for bettors. The biggest question is when will Lexie Brown and Cameron Brink return and contribute? Brown missed a huge chunk of the season due to Crohn’s disease, while Brink is making her way back from a torn ACL.
The Sparks should be able to pull away in the second half, led by Plum and the new-look offense. The Valkyries could be surprisingly effective on defense, though, so we’ll side with the under.
Picks: Sparks -7 (-110) & Under 162.5 Points (-112)