Kate Martin did not play much in her rookie season. Since she joined the defending champions as the eighteenth pick in the draft, her lack of playing time was not entirely surprising. Nevertheless, Martin showed flashes of her talent and is expected to play a much bigger role in the 2025 season as a member of the Golden State Valkyries.
Martin is the type of player who does a little bit of everything on the court. That surely factored into how quickly she became a fan favorite in the WNBA. Few people appreciate her value on the court more than her college teammate, Caitlin Clark. The two played together at Iowa, and Clark has already said that she would like to join forces with Martin again in the future.
For now, Martin is locked in with the Valkyries and not going anywhere. The Fever have the chance to draft someone with a very similar skill set to Martin, though.
The Fever should keep an eye on Sydney Affolter in the 2025 WNBA Draft
The Fever have their young stars and big three. Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Kelsey Mitchell form the Fever’s core, and the organization was also able to add some more veteran stars in free agency. The Fever are well set up in the big-name department.
So, what they need now are role players to put around their stars. The Fever do not have a first-round pick in the 2025 Draft but get to make two selections in the second round and one in the third round. Their eyes should be on Iowa Hawkeye Sydney Affolter as well as one of her teammates.
Much like Martin, Affolter has the skill set to be the perfect role player after college. She may not become a star or put together crazy stat lines regularly, but she could come off the bench and do whatever the team needs from her in limited minutes.
Affolter has steadily improved over her college career and is currently averaging 8.5 points on efficient shooting, 8.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.3 steals in 29.6 minutes per game. She can defend, space the floor, and grab plenty of rebounds. That is exactly the type of player the Fever need around Clark, Boston, and Mitchell.
Using a second or third-round pick to draft Affolter would be a low-risk move that could lead to a solid reward eventually if she can make the transition to the pros. The Fever likely won’t be the only team eyeing Affolter after the first round, though.