Eastern Notes: Martin, Mills, Bucks, Heat

New Heat two-way forward Caleb Martin cited the team’s reputation, culture, and successful development history as key reasons why he joined the franchise, as Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald details. Martin, who spent the last two seasons with the Hornets, will join undrafted guard Marcus Garrett as Miami’s two-way players entering the season.

“The culture and the reputation were the big things that caught my eye,” Martin explained. “Obviously, the coaching staff and just everybody that’s involved over here. One of the things they said was they’re big on development. They’re going to work with me and do the best they can to make me the best player I can be. They think this is a great spot for me in terms of my playing style and I agree with that.”

Miami has a well-documented history of developing players — Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson being two of the most recent examples — something that Martin simply couldn’t ignore as a free agent.

“You hear a lot of great things about the organization in Miami,” he said. “It’s clear that they bring in winning players and a winning culture, and they do a great job of molding guys and developing guys through their program. Obviously, those were all key points for me when it’s time to choose somewhere to go.”

Here are some other notes from the Eastern Conference today:

• Brian Lewis of the New York Post examines how Kevin Durant helped recruit veteran point guard Patty Mills to the Nets in free agency. Mills is expected to provide ball-handling and shooting behind the likes of Kyrie Irving and James Harden for Brooklyn this season.
• Eric Nehm of The Athletic explores a number of Bucks-related topics in his mailbag, including how the team could address any lack of size up front, Alex Antetokounmpo‘s situation and more. Milwaukee is coming off its first championship season since 1971.
• The Heat will have several options to try at starting power forward this season, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel examines in his mailbag. Miami signed P.J. Tucker and Markieff Morris to deals in free agency, both of whom are expected to contend for minutes. The team also has 23-year-old center Omer Yurtseven, who could bump Bam Adebayo to power forward if and when they share the floor.