The Philadelphia 76ers have successfully landed former Miami Heat forward Caleb Martin at a much cheaper price than expected.
$35 million is a lot of money, but not in the NBA world, especially for a team that has already reached the playoffs. Martin shined in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics, which will be helpful for the title-contending Sixers. Philadelphia will almost certainly have to beat the defending champions to reach the NBA Finals.
Martin’s proven skills have led Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus rates his four-year, $35 million contract as one of the 12 best in the league.
“Martin, a proven playoff player with the Miami Heat and a 2022-23 NBA Finals appearance, was hoping for a bigger deal this summer,” Pincus wrote. “With the Heat facing budgetary challenges and few teams with significant spending power, Martin accepted just $8.8 million per season (player option on final year) to join the contending Sixers.”
The 28-year-old is expected to be the starting power forward for the 76ers, backed by KJ Martin and Guerschon Yabusele. At 6’5″, he’s not the most prolific rebounder, but he has MVP Joel Embiid and veteran Andre Drummond alongside him.
He averaged 10 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists on a mediocre 43.1 percent shooting percentage in 64 games last season.
“At almost 29, he’s still in his prime, and at that price, Philadelphia is getting a valuable rotation player/borderline starter,” Pincus wrote.
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