What an offseason it’s been for Daryl Morey and the Philadelphia 76ers. After landing their big fish in Paul George, re-signing Kelly Oubre to a team-friendly deal, extending Tyrese Maxey, and bringing in veterans Andre Drummond and Eric Gordon, the Sixers have once again made an impact addition after signing forward Caleb Martin.
ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to break the news.
Martin is quite the confounding NBA player. While it’s not uncommon to see a player who can succeed in the regular season come up short in the playoffs, Martin is effectively the opposite. He’s certainly playable in the regular season, averaging 9.8 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 35.3 percent from deep on 3.5 attempts over the past two seasons.
In the playoffs, those numbers have jumped to 12.5 points and 5.1 rebounds. It’s not the most impressive leap, sure, but the shooting numbers are the takeaway here. Over the past two postseasons, Caleb Martin has shot 42.6 percent from three on 4.6 attempts. Last postseason, he averaged 44.0 percent from deep on 5.0 attempts per game.
While the Sixers certainly hope to see postseason Martin this year, his contributions during the regular season should be significant as well. Martin is coming into a scenario that features far more spacing than he had in Miami. Playing alongside Tyrese Maxey and Paul George while Joel Embiid demands hoards of attention in the paint, Martin may find himself more open than he’s ever been.
An additional major reason the Sixers were interested in Martin is his defensive ability. While he’s not known as a stopper and thus will likely not be the preferred point-of-attack defender (POA) option, Martin is quite the skilled off-ball defender, making up four of the Sixers’ five starters plus defenders.
There is no word on what Martin’s compensation will be, in terms of both years and dollar amount, but the expectation should be around $9 million per year, likely either as a one-plus-one or if Philadelphia truly made out in this acquisition a three-year deal.
*Update: According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Caleb Martin will be signing a four-year deal worth more than $32 million.
In a corresponding move, the Sixers waived Paul Reed so that they could afford the cap space to sign Martin. Philadelphia is now likely out of remaining cap space and will turn to veteran minimum deals from here.
However, it’s not all bad. Again, the Sixers were able to add Paul George, Andre Drummond, and Eric Gordon, re-sign Kelly Oubre and Tyrese Maxey, and now Caleb Martin without giving up draft compensation, going above the first apron, or hardcapping themselves at either the first or second apron.
Because of this, the Sixers possess maximum flexibility heading into the season and will likely be major players around the NBA trade deadline and certainly in the buyout market so long as they do not become hardcapped between now and then.
It’s hard to deny that at this point in the offseason, especially after factoring in the drafting of two well-regarded rookies, Daryl Morey and the Philadelphia 76ers, are among the team’s enjoying the best offseasons this summer.
