The Philadelphia 76ers definitely knew what was going on when they decided to trade Caleb Martin before the trade deadline last year. Now with the Mavericks, the veteran has immensely struggled to even get on the floor, and all of a sudden, his career in the NBA is hanging in the balance. Really, who saw that coming?
Pegged as one of the more reliable players in the league not too long ago, Martin has seen his stock drastically decline this season. As of writing, he is merely averaging 9.1 minutes per outing, averaging absolutely meager numbers to the tun of 1.2 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 0.9 assists a game on 24.3 percent shooting from the field, which likewise includes a measly 15.4 percent success rate from beyond the arc.
Even with Dallas struggling this season, Martin has barely seen the court. He was a DNP on six different occasions thus far, while also not even being in uniform for one game. He has completely fallen out of favor with Jason Kidd, and there is a complete lack of indication that the worm will eventually turn for him moving forward.
Caleb Martin has immensely struggled for the Mavericks, and the 76ers dodged a bullet
It is not even his flat-out hideous production that makes Martin such a net-negative presence. Counting this season, he is still under contract for at least the next two years, making approximately $9.5 million on the average.
The Mavs will be paying medium-end role player money to someone who cannot crack the rotation even when they are undermanned. Suffice to say that this was far from the outcome that Dallas envisioned when it traded Quentin Grimes to the 76ers for Martin, but so far, he has been nothing more than a sheer disappointment.
To make matters worse, there is little to no chance for him to regain his mojo. After all, he is in Jason Kidd’s doghouse, and the Mavs already have a bunch of wings and forwards who are much safer bets than Martin at this point in time.
While this may be a glib point, the 76ers absolutely fleeced the Mavericks in that trade. Thankfully, Philly’s brass probably saw strong signs that Martin’s career was already on a decline, and so far, they are spot-on with that probable inference. Even better, it is not their problem to deal with anymore, proving that they indeed dodged a bullet with this one.