The Philadelphia 76ers have truly cooled off after their rousing start to the season, but thetr is literally zero reasons to hit the panic button at this juncture. They are still doing well compared to the rest given the injuries they have had to brace for and adjust to. In fact, they are still reaping the rewards for making one of the best trades in the NBA in recent memory when they managed to flip Caleb Martin for Quentin Grimes, who has become a huge part of the team.
Martin, who played briefly for the 76ers last season as their major acquisition in free agency, was traded to the Mavericks last season. Unfortunately for his new ball club, little did they know that the 30-year-old was already well on his way to being far from serviceable. Dallas has not given Martin more run on the floor, but it is not like they are doing it out of spiteful regret — he has just been that bad to start the campaign.
Having said that, 76ers fans especially know this all too well. Last season, Martin had an incredibly slow start to the season, and while he eventually started rounding back to form, there were definitely some deep moments of regret with his new contract early in the year.
76ers are all too familiar with Caleb Martin’s slow start with the Mavericks
After years of being a steady and high-impact role player for the Heat, Martin has rapidly declined with the Mavericks. This season, he is averaging just 9.7 minutes per outing — a far cry from the 24.3 minutes he has averaged from 2019 to last season.
To make matters worse, Martin has done nothing to compel Jason Kidd and his staff into handing him more court time. While he has never been a high-octane scorer, he has basically become invisible on that end, averaging just 1.5 points per game on a putrid 27.8 percent shooting from the field and 16.7 percent from beyond the arc. Gross.
The Mavericks are immensely struggling, and with a fire sale potentially on the horizon, Martin could actually find himself getting more minutes as the season progresses. However, as the 76ers know, it will take a good amount of time before he even finds his shot this year — and that will continue to frustrate Dallas.
Somehow, the 76ers just continue to win with their sleek decision to flip Martin for Grimes. Meanwhile, the Mavericks remain haunted by their catastrophic decisions from last season, and that trade remains to be a nonsensical one for them.