The Wolves reportedly made shooting guard Kevin Martin in trade discussions during December. This, of course, is nothing new for Martin, who is 32 and has played on four different teams, including two stints each with the Kings and Rockets. Martin was a part of trade talk last winter, too, when a series of reports identified the Mavericks, Wizards, Bulls, Kings and Rockets as interested parties.
We covered today that Sam Smith of Bulls.com doesn’t believe there is any substance to the idea Chicago will acquire Martin because the veteran has another year on his contract worth nearly $7.4MM, and because his scoring average and shooting percentage are near career lows. But it seems like some team will, indeed, take a flier on him. While Martin’s numbers are down (mainly his shooting percentage), he is still quite serviceable. He is averaging 12.1 points per game in 26 games, including 12 starts. Several teams could use his experience and scoring production.
That leads us to today’s shootaround topic: What team do you think would benefit the most from adding Martin?
Being mindful of our commenting policy, let us know in the comments section below what your thoughts are. We look forward to what you have to share.
The Bucks desperately need someone other than Middleton to shoot from outside and clearly want short term success based on recent moves. They’d get my vote.
the Bucks would be a good fit. what do you think they’d have to give up?
At this point the Wolves are not looking for much in return for Martin. Bucks could probably negotiate it down enough to just a 2nd round pick.
The Bulls desperately need a legitimate scoring SG so that Jimmy Butler can play his normal SF position. The Bulls would be foolish to trade Taj Gibson and/or Joakim Noah, despite all the reports they’re available. They won’t do it, but frankly the smartest offer they could make would be Niko Mirotic and Tony Snell for Martin and a future 1st. I don’t believe Niko’s going to get much better, he makes the same mistakes over and over each and every game. But he still has promise and perceived upside, so trade him while he has some value. Doing so would open PT for Bobby Portis and still keep the Bulls strong defensively in the paint w Gibson/Noah.
That’s the dumbest trade ever
I wouldn’t give up on niko in his second year. And draft picks are hard to come by cuz teams aren’t giving them up and to go along with snell is way too much
If they were to offer all of that I would want zack lavine. A snell and some sort of pick for Martin is ok with me
It’s way above my pay grade to propose how the trades will work–I’ll leave that to others. But the question posed was, What team would benefit from acquiring Martin? I’d propose two teams to watch for: Wizards and Hawks. Beal’s injury history is troublesome, and the Wizards need more punch off the bench. Of course the Wiz aren’t going to mess up their cap space while pursuing Durant next year, so unless the Wolves can help with that, no deal would happen. The Hawks aren’t getting great production from Korver, and while I wouldn’t expect Martin to surpass Korver on the depth chart, it sure would help the Hawks to have a professional scorer off the bench. Perhaps they could return the draft pick the Wolves gave them last year in the ill-fated Adreian Payne deal.
I think it would be tough to envision the Wizards going after Martin unless he waived his player option, like Corey Brewer did to get to the Rockets last year. But the Hawks would make a lot of sense.
The Knicks. They could swap Jose Calderon for him straight up.
Why do Knicks fans think Calderon has any trade value?
I don’t think the Wolves are looking to move KMart just because. We are a year or two more from being the team we think we can be. His contract is reasonable, especially with the salary cap jump that is going to happen. The Wolves are in good position with his contract on the books. No need for the Wolves to rush any decisions right now.
With that being said, I think KMart would look good at OKC, Cleveland, Memphis and Washington. Obviously, he would do well with a lot of teams. He is looking to go to a contender/playoff team.
Jake, I do think the Wolves are looking to move KMart. It’s not necessarily because they want to get rid of him but it doesn’t make sense for his kind of skills and talent to sit on the bench, and the Wolves need to give two-guard minutes to Wiggins and LaVine now. Plus, it’s only respectful to KMart to move him, and that kind of respect is important–if you treat players badly, all the other players notice, and it makes it much more difficult to attract and retain players, and to build a cohesive locker room. KMart wants to play, the Wolves need to let him play somewhere. Even if they get next to nothing for him, they have to move him before the trade deadline.
I don’t mean to say the Wolves aren’t trying to move him or shouldn’t. I think there is no reason to give away assets. I think it is valid to think about players and our view as a franchise in the league. We have definitely built some credit in that department with our recent moves and the way we have handled veterans since Flip’s return. There has to be a balance. Giving KMart away for nothing is doing a disservice to our franchise, fanbase and current players. I really appreciate the attitude, professionalism and work ethic KMart had brought to our roster. I think it is in everyone’s best interest to find a good deal with the right team. No one wants to make deals with a team that takes advantage of other teams.
As we have both eluded to this is a complex league with lots of variables. Take your time.