7. Heat hero Caleb Martin would be a perfect fit with the 76ers
Miami, thanks in large part to injuries and a tough first-round draw in Boston, failed to follow up its Finals appearance with a good showing this season. As a result, Pat Riley could pretty much go bolder this offseason after years of missing out on his blue-chip targets and letting Erik Spoelstra deal with a funky deck.
If so, one of the casualties of them going big this summer could be Caleb Martin, one of the Heat’s biggest heroes in their Finals run last season. He was still a pivotal part of the rotation this season as Miami’s sixth man and occasional starter, and he will enter free agency as one of the better, mid-cost options on the market.
Again, in anticipation of the exodus of their forwards, the Philadelphia 76ers should aggressively pursue Martin. The 28-year-old is basically a younger version of Batum sans the low usage and the heady quirks. Martin’s combination of tertiary scoring, three-point shooting, switchable defense, and good court awareness should be a seamless fit with the team.