Nico Harrison will always be remembered for the all-time blunder he orchestrated when he, in a state of actual soberness and not being under a hypnotic spell, decided that it was a sensible thing to trade Luka Doncic, who just got the Mavericks to the Finals the previous season, for Anthony Davis without even getting a boatload of picks to sweeten the pot. However, people should be reminded that he also willingly allowed the 76ers to finesse them in plain sight not long after that.
The Quentin Grimes trade, which enabled Philly to jettison Caleb Martin (while also getting a second-round pick that ended up being Johni Broome), continues to be a net win for the 76ers. The best part about it? This verdict is not even dependent on what Grimes has done for this squad. The mere fact that they were able to get rid of Martin’s deal is already a win in and of itself.
Meanwhile, the Mavs keep losing this deal by the day. Not only did they grossly miscalculated on Grimes, but they also overestimated what they were getting in Martin. The veteran forward has not gotten significant action this season, and as of writing, he had just missed his ninth straight game due to injury.
The 76ers keep winning the Quentin Grimes trade without even lifting a finger
We need not even belabor ourselves with the moot task of delving into Martin’s averages this season — suffice to say that they have been poignant and negligible. The messiest part with him for Dallas is his dea which extends to 2028.
Next season, he has a fully guaranteed deal amounting to approximately $10 million. The season after that, he has a player option for around $9 million that he will surely exercise. Those figures are not intensely debilitating for the Mavericks brain trust, but they are hardly galvanizing in any way, shape or form.
There were already strong warning signs when he was still with the 76ers that Martin was not going to live up to his contract. His shot was so erratic when he was already not taking a lot of shots in the first place. His grit on the defensive end has become passé. The facets that made him such a solid role player in Miami were already slowly disappearing.
Now that he is missing a lot of games due to injury, there is literally no way to redeem himself and make his contract worthwhile. Dallas will look to compete as soon as possible, and he will undoubtedly be tethered to the bench unless something drastic happens. Thankfully, the 76ers were able to flick away this brewing problem before it hit them hard.