Kate Martin has undergone an up-and-down first season in the WNBA. She wasn’t even sure whether she would be drafted out of Iowa and was pleasantly delighted upon hearing her name called by the Aces in the second round. And she came out of the gates swiftly, turning into one of the Aces’ finest bench players at the beginning of the season.
Martin won that rotation place by draining her open shots. She’s nailed 36.8 percent of her 3’s through her first 32 games. In her lone opportunity to enter the starting lineup back in June, she scored 13 points on only seven shots. So why isn’t she playing now?
Martin’s playing time has fallen dramatically as the season has proceeded. She’s rarely played since the Aces returned from the All-Star break.
Here’s why Martin has had problems seeing the floor recently, and what she needs to do to carve out a niche for herself.
Why is Kate Martin not playing for the Aces?
Kate Martin is hurt after a tough fall — whole Aces team crowded around her as she made her way to the locker room pic.twitter.com/eykTb2gEi4
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) July 17, 2024
Martin was picked in the second round by the Aces, so she was always going to have to earn whatever playing time she earned. There are so few roster places in the WNBA that second-rounders often struggle to stick in the league.
Martin looked to be achieving that, but injuries surely didn’t help her cause. She sustained a nasty-looking bruised Achilles tendon on July 16 that had her teammates crowded around her in support.
That injury luckily ended up not being as terrible as it looked, and Martin did have the long vacation from the Olympics to recover. But it did end up taking some momentum away from her season. She’s only played spot minutes since then and has scored only one point in her past 10 games into Wednesday’s Sep. 11 clash against the Fever.
Entering the game, the Aces find themselves in fourth place with the playoffs swiftly approaching. There’s lots of pressure on them to win their third straight championship, and they have the second-best odds to do so after the Liberty.
Las Vegas has forced to shorten its rotation, and Martin has been the victim of those harsh decisions from coach Becky Hammon. Martin did have another opportunity to play over 12 minutes on Sep. 3 due to Kelsey Plum’s ankle ailment, so she’s not that far off from re-entering the lineup in a more consistent position.
Martin has demonstrated some solid skills that should have her competing for those backup minutes. Her shooting has been reliable, she exhibits high feel on the court, and she’s been a solid cutter and passer. She’s been a competent defender and accepted her role as a supporting player to the Aces’ better scorers.
It has been a good rookie campaign for Martin, but she does need to be more proactive as a scorer.
It’s unknown what Martin’s future is in Las Vegas, but there will be additional roster places for her to potentially grab next season when the league begins its expansion. Martin could see herself taken by the Valkyries, join on with some other team or find herself replacing one of the elder members on the Aces squad.
For now, Martin will have to remain patient on a senior club with dreams of winning it all.
