Kate Martin was one of the most heartbreaking casualties of the WNBA’s yearly roster purges. She didn’t make the Valkyries’ final roster, as they needed a backup point guard and frontcourt size more than yet another 3-and-D wing. Martin was also cut too late to secure a regular roster spot elsewhere and signed a development contract with the Los Angeles Sparks.
Under the new CBA, each team can have two developmental players to help with injury trouble. While teams can technically cycle through as many developmental players as they’d like, they are restricted to twelve games from each development spot. Martin has already played nine, and the Sparks will have to make a decision on her future soon.
Given that she usually plays more minutes than several players on the Sparks’ twelve-man roster, it seems likely that they will convert her to a standard contract and waive one of the players at the end of the bench—unless the knee injury she suffered in a 99-83 loss to the Lynx is anything serious. If the Sparks choose to take that route with Martin, they will have to do it soon, as all contracts will become guaranteed at the midpoint of the regular season.
Martin has been a relatively steady part of Lynne Roberts’ rotation
The Sparks don’t have a ton of wing depth or defense on the roster, and that has worked in Kate Martin’s favor. She has appeared in as many or more games as Jihyun Park, Ta’Niya Latson, Sania Feagin, and Emma Cannon, and averages the most minutes per game out of that group. She averages the ninth-most minutes on the team and has also seen more run than Chance Gray on a few occasions.
Martin hasn’t been super productive, averaging just 2.9 points, 0.6 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.2 steals, and 0.2 blocks. Nevertheless, she has certainly looked like someone who belongs on a twelve-player WNBA roster, and Roberts evidently trusts her more than some of the other development projects on the team.
So, it seems unlikely that the Sparks would just use up all twelve games Martin can currently play and then let another team pick her up. If the Sparks convert Martin’s deal to a standard contract, Ta’Niya Latson or Sania Feagin seem like the most likely candidates to be waived. Both could fill a developmental spot with the Sparks or another team, however, as they are just in their first and second season, respectively.
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