The Golden State Valkyries selected LSU star Flau’jae Johnson with the eighth overall pick of the WNBA draft on Monday, then traded her to the Seattle Storm less than an hour later.
To acquire Johnson, the Storm gave the Valkyries a 2028 second-round pick and TCU forward Marta Suárez, who was chosen with the 16th overall selection of Monday’s draft. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced the trade at the podium a few minutes after Johnson wrapped up her post-draft news conference.
“It still kind of hasn’t hit me yet, I don’t think, all the way,” Johnson said before she found out she was traded to the Storm. “But I mean, just totally grateful, having my family there, my little brother there. Like, that was everything to me. I’m very excited, just coming from college to now the pros.
“I’m officially a drafted pro, so it means a lot to me, and I just want to go and make an impact.”
LSU now has produced first-round WNBA draft picks in three consecutive years for the first time in school history. Forwards Angel Reese (2024) and Aneesah Morrow (2025) both were selected with the seventh overall picks of their respective drafts. They both spent two years at LSU.
Johnson played all four seasons of her collegiate career with the Tigers, which means that she’s the first four-year LSU player chosen in the first round of the draft since 2012, when the Washington Mystics selected forward LaSondra Barrett with the 10th overall pick.
On Monday, five guards were chosen ahead of Johnson.
UConn’s Azzi Fudd came off the board when the Dallas Wings scooped her up with the first overall pick, and TCU’s Olivia Miles heard her name called when the Minnesota Lynx took her second. The Chicago Sky then took UCLA’s Gabriela Jaquez with the fifth pick, the Toronto Tempo chose UCLA’s Kiki Rice with the sixth selection, and the Portland Fire added Spain’s Iyana Martín Carrión with the seventh choice.
Once those guards were chosen, Johnson didn’t have to wait much longer to hear her name. She was widely expected to be a top-10 pick, in large part because she proved she could be both an efficient outside shooter and active perimeter defender during her time in Baton Rouge. There, she played under a bright spotlight.
“I think pressure makes diamonds,” Johnson said, “and I’m super excited to come and add what I can. All I want to do is add value, and I feel like any place that I come add value to is going to elevate.”
In 2022, Johnson enrolled at LSU as the 26th-best recruit in her freshman class, according to ESPN. She was the first McDonald’s All-American to sign with the Tigers after coach Kim Mulkey took over the program in 2021, and she wound up starting 139 games in her career — a span that doubled as one of the most successful stretches in program history.
LSU went 125-20 (.862) from 2022-26 with Johnson onboard. It won its first national championship at the end of Johnson’s freshman year, then reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament when she was a sophomore, junior and senior.
Johnson’s collegiate career ended March 27 when Duke hit a last-second shot to bounce the Tigers out of the tournament in the Sweet 16. She finished with 2,063 career points — the sixth-most in LSU history.
Johnson, who’s also built a successful career as a rapper, was eligible to declare for last year’s draft, but because she decided to return to LSU for her senior season, she’s now part of the first rookie class that plays under the league’s new collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
The league and its players hammered out the terms of that deal just in time for their 30th season, which will tip off on May 8. In an interesting twist, the two teams who negotiated the trade for Johnson on Monday will play each other in their respective season openers on that night.
The Storm also had the third, 14th and 39th overall picks of the draft, and it used the choices to select Spain forward Awa Fam Thiam, Duke guard Taina Mair and Michigan State forward Grace VanSlooten.
