Aces sign Team Japan star Mai Yamamoto as focus on offense continues
Derek Hegna
Host · Writer
The Las Vegas Aces are turning to a familiar face to continue ramping up their offense.
On Friday night, the Aces officially announced the signing of guard Mai Yamamoto to a rest of season contract.
The move comes on the heels of the Aces announcing that rookie forward Janiah Barker would be out for the remainder of the season due to injury.
Yamamoto is something of a known commodity for the Aces, and one they will be more than happy to see on their side this time around. On April 26, when the Aces faced Team Japan in a preseason exhibition, Yamamoto was easily the best player on the court for the Japanese with seven three-pointers and 24 points.
While Yamamoto has no WNBA experience outside of a brief cup of coffee with the Dallas Wings before the 2025 season, she brings a glut of international experience. She has been a star in several renditions of the FIBA World Cup and Asian Cup, and also put up 17 points, three rebounds and five assists when Japan faced Team USA in the 2024 Olympics.
The signing comes as the Aces aim to improve on the offensive end.
Despite looking to find players to provide scoring punch beyond the trio of A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray, the offseason acquisitions have not done much this season. Stephanie Talbot and Brianna Turner have been more impactful on the defensive end, but have produced less than five points per game combined. Chennedy Carter appeared to be finding her groove as a microwave scorer coming off the bench, but things quickly soured and she scored more than 10 points only once since May 31 before being waived.
A healthy Dana Evans and an eyebrow-raising start from Justine Pissott should help add some firepower from the bench, but the Aces felt the need to do more.
There is zero doubt that Becky Hammon and Nikki Fargas did their homework on Yamamoto after the Japan game, and they clearly liked what they saw enough to give her a chance to see if the impressive preseason effort translates in regular season action.
