The Philadelphia 76ers are not going to be remembered as having an elite brain trust, but it would highly disingenuous to just gloss over the slew of heady moves that Daryl Morey and his cohorts have made over the years. One of those was their decision to trade KJ Martin away before the deadline.
Martin was always going to be a trade chip for the 76ers. That was precisely the reason why the even re-signed him to a deal he never really deserved. But after getting traded to the Pistons (and then to the Jazz), the young forward's career has taken a steep decline. Martin last suited up for the Ningbo Rockets of the Chinese Basketball Association and has not gotten any sniff of NBA action since then.
Well, the 76ers easily saw that this could end up unfolding. After all, Martin's game simply did not translate well in the modern game. He is basically a non-shooter from three-point range, and his game was largely predicated on finishing in the paint and running to the rim. He has no individual shot creation, and his lack of playmaking juice did not help him, either.
The 76ers saw KJ Martin getting booted out of the NBA coming from a mile away
Undersized forward who basically cannot shoot from outside the paint are heavy liabilities in today's NBA, and without a standout skill for himself, Martin effectively shot himself in the foot by failing to integrate modern bits to his skill set.
To be fair, Martin was actually more than serviceable for the 76ers before he got traded last season. In 20 appearances for Philly, he turned in 6.4 points and three rebounds per game on 61.6 percent shooting from the field and 38.1 percent from three-point range (albeit on low volume). He also displayed glimpses of being a hard-nosed defender, which was the main reason he got playing time at all.
He utterly failed to reprise that kind of efficiency with the Jazz last season, though. He shot just 49 percent from the field and 18.9 percent from beyond the arc, which just won't cut it for a player of his ilk. As a result, Utah cut him even before training camp began, which was simply brutal timing for a journeyman like him.
Now, the path back to the NBA seems to be a hazy one for KJ Martin. Hopefully, the former 76ers forward can find a way to recalibrate his game to modern trends –– only then can he mount a legitimate comeback trail to return to the league.