Kate Martin Reveals Honest Reaction to Valkyries Move

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Paolo Songco | Last updated Dec 6, 2024 7:41 PM ET

Perhaps the biggest news to come out of the WNBA's expansion draft on Friday is the fact that the league's newest team, the Golden State Valkyries, has decided to use one of their draft picks to select Kate Martin from the Las Vegas Aces.

Martin, whom the Aces selected as the 18th overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, did not exactly have a tremendous rookie campaign in Las Vegas. As such, the Aces came to a decision not to include her in their list of protected players for the expansion draft, which has now resulted in the Valkyries snagging the 6-foot guard.

Martin spoke to ESPN shortly after the news broke, and the 24-year-old revealed her honest reaction to this major career move.

"I'm really excited," she said. "This league is all about opportunity, and you just need one shot, right? I'm very thankful for the Aces and everything I got to learn there, but I'm really excited for this new beginning and to build something from the ground up with the Valkyries."

"I'm very thankful for the Aces and everything I got to learn there, but I'm really excited for this new beginning and to build something from the ground up."

—Kate Martin on being selected by the Valkyries from the Aces pic.twitter.com/r7i3Z73llt
— espnW (@espnW) December 7, 2024

The Aces scooped up Martin in last year's draft after her five-year stint in Iowa, where she got a chance to play alongside former superstar teammate Caitlin Clark. In her rookie year in the WNBA, the Edwardsville, Illinois native averaged just 2.6 points and 1.6 rebounds in 11.5 minutes off the bench.

At this point, Martin is clearly looking forward to a fresh start in Golden State. She's already sounded off about what her new team and the fans can expect from her in Year 2.

"Honestly, my focus has just been getting better all around," she said. "I had a decent rookie season but I just know something that's really cool about me is that my ceiling is very high."

Martin will join the Valkyries along with 10 other players that they have selected from the other teams in the WNBA. The list includes Temi Fagbenle of the Indiana Fever, Kayla Thornton of the New York Liberty, Monique Billings of the Phoenix Mercury and Maria Conde of the Chicago Sky, to name a few.

Golden State also has the fifth overall pick of the 2025 WNBA Draft at their disposal, as well as the 17th and 30th picks in the succeeding rounds.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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