A’ja Wilson, Aces share emotions on the Valkyries picking Kate Martin in the WNBA expansion draft

RIP to Kate Martin and A’ja Wilson’s ‘Finding Nemo’ inspired pregame handshake.

In an expansion draft, teams can only protect so many players and can only control so much.

And the Las Vegas Aces had a lot of really good players to protect from being selected by the Golden State Valkyries as they prepare to enter the WNBA next season, from A’ja Wilson to Kelsey Plum to Alysha Clark.

One player that was left unprotected by the Aces was Kate Martin. And the Valkyries swooped in and made the former Iowa Hawkeye one of their selections.

Now, Martin – who famously didn’t expect to be selected in last spring’s draft before the Aces grabbed her in the second round, and just showed up to support Iowa teammate Caitlin Clark – is poised to be one of the faces of the Valkyries. Simply put, Martin’s WNBA journey so far has been a wild ride.

With that, her former Las Vegas Aces teammates – including Wilson – had a lot of mixed emotions about seeing Martin join another team. There was happiness, sadness, a lot of bittersweetness, and of course, jokes.

By the standard of most second-round draft picks, Martin had a pretty solid rookie season. She played in 34 games, started two, and averaged 2.6 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game in just an average of 11.5 minutes of action. When given extended minutes, she often shined, like when she had 12 points and seven rebounds in a win over Clark and the Fever, or when she had seven points, six rebounds and four assists in a September victory over the Dallas Wings. Along the way, she formed a bond with Wilson, one that including a pregame handshake inspired by “Finding Nemo.”

Martin could play a key role for the Valkyries in their inaugural WNBA campaign.