The Philadelphia 76ers are looking to complete the roster around their new Big 3, and a former Miami Heat adversary could make a good deal of sense at the right price.
Caleb Martin recently opted out of the final year of his $20.4 million contract with Miami in order to test the free agent waters. He could be looking for upwards of $20 million annually on a new deal, according to the Bleacher Report Live Stream on Tuesday, July 2.
While that kind of salary would almost certainly price Philly out of contention for his services, there is a strong fit argument around Martin and the Sixers if he’s willing to lessen his financial demands.
“When I look at Caleb Martin, I look at San Antonio, Utah and Philly,” the Bleacher Report Live Stream host suggested. “I don’t think Philly has the money necessarily, but I think that there’s a world in which they can maybe talk him into taking a bit less to come play on a contender. And I think he’s a Philly type of player.”
Caleb Martin Played Way Into Meaningful Rotation Role With Heat, Came Up Big in Playoffs
GettyCaleb Martin of the Miami Heat defends Damian Lillard, formerly of the Portland Trailblazers, during an NBA game.
The competitiveness angle tends to play differently from player to player in the league, but there is a strong internal logic behind Martin perhaps being someone who would favor winning over a few extra million annually — especially if he’s already going to cash in a bigger payday than he ever has in his professional career.
Martin, who will play next season at 29 years old, has been a member of the Heat’s roster since the 2021-22 season and therefore a participant in two runs to the Eastern Conference Finals (ECF) as well as one trip to the NBA Finals.
He showcased his worth on the biggest stage during the ECF against the Boston Celtics in 2023, putting up 19.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists while shooting nearly 49% from 3-point range across the seven-game series that landed Miami in the Finals for the second time in four years.
The 6-foot-5, 205-pound small forward averaged 10.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 27.4 minutes of action per night across 64 regular-season games for the Heat last season, per Basketball Reference. Martin is also a career 35.7% shooter from behind the arc on 3.0 attempts per game.
He never appeared in fewer than 60 contests for Miami in any of his three campaigns with the team and has started 84 of the 195 regular-season games in which he’s seen action for the Heat.
76ers Look to Break Through to Eastern Conference Finals for First Time in Joel Embiid Era
GettyJoel Embiid (left) and Tyrese Maxey (right) of the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Sixers have been a perennial playoff team since Joel Embiid began playing regularly and relatively healthily for the franchise during the 2017-18 campaign. However, the team has yet to break through to the ECF in that span.
Multiple alleged co-stars have come and gone in the seven years since, though Embiid appears to finally have found a true running mate in point guard Tyrese Maxey. On top of that, the team added nine-time All-Star wing Paul George on a four-year max contract already this summer — easily the biggest blockbuster deal of the offseason.
With George entering his age-34 campaign and Embiid set to turn 31 years old late next season after years of chronic and acute injury issues, the time for the 76ers to swing for the fences is now.
The Celtics are the defending champions and appear to be bringing back essentially their entire rotation in 2024-25. The New York Knicks have also built a high-quality roster that plays a relentless style on both ends of the floor.
That said, the right team around Embiid, Maxey and George can be just as intimidating as the rosters Boston and New York will bring to the court this fall. The Sixers still have some slots to fill around their Big 3 after bringing back small forward Kelly Oubre Jr. and adding center Andre Drummond and shooting guard Eric Gordon.
Martin is a solid shooter and a tough-nosed defender who produced a 113.3 defensive rating last season, nearly 3 full points better than the league average rating of 116.1. If the 76ers can make the money work, Martin could be part of an equation that finally puts Philly over the top in the East.
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