Betnijah Laney-Hamilton stayed in Brooklyn after the trade deadline, but she has gone seven straight healthy games without seeing action and her place in the Liberty rotation has only gotten shakier.
That is why her name is drawing searches now: the 32-year-old signed a one-year, $400,000 contract in April, began the season in a starting role and has appeared in just 17 of the team's 30 games entering Monday. She has played 16.8 minutes per game this season, the fewest in eight years, while averaging 4.7 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists on 36.2 percent shooting from the field and 24.3 percent on 3-pointers.
Laney-Hamilton had her first DNP-CD on June 21 and later picked up another in the Commissioner's Cup championship win over the Aces, then was ejected for throwing a shoe in the July 12 loss in Toronto. Since that night, she has not played. Before Monday's win against the Storm, she described the situation as “a lot” and said she did not have enough time to get through it, but added that there had been “definitely a lot of ups and downs.”
Chris DeMarco had said in recent weeks that he still had confidence in her, but by Monday the message had shifted. He said the situation would be “game to game” and that the staff would “look at everything,” which leaves her return to the floor tied to each lineup decision rather than any fixed timetable.
That uncertainty stands out because Laney-Hamilton is not a fringe piece. She has been with the Liberty since 2021, is their second-longest-tenured player, and was a former All-Star and a starter on the 2024 title team. Breanna Stewart called her “a great player” with a “really successful career in the WNBA,” and said what she brings on and off the court remains “really important and special.”
But the reduced minutes, the repeated DNP-CDs and the fact that she remained with the Liberty after the trade deadline all point in the same direction: her season has moved from expected veteran role player to week-by-week roster judgment. Unless that changes, the only answer on Betnijah Laney-Hamilton is the one DeMarco already gave.
