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Sixers Sign Caleb Martin, Waive Paul Reed

July 6th 2024 at 6:28pm CST by Tristan Tucker

7:28pm: Martin has officially signed with the Sixers, the team confirmed in a press release.

“Caleb is a battle-tested performer who has elevated his game when his teams have needed it most,” president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said in a statement. “We’re excited for him to bring his skillset and mentality to the 76ers.”

The Sixers also confirmed in a separate release that they’ve waived Reed.

11:45am: Martin’s deal with the Sixers is indeed guaranteed for roughly $32MM and can reach up to $40MM with bonuses, Scotto clarifies (Twitter link).

9:23am: Free agent forward Caleb Martin is planning to sign with the Sixers, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). In order to help make space for the veteran forward, the 76ers are planning to waive Paul Reed‘s non-guaranteed contract, Wojnarowski reports (Twitter link).

In a follow-up story, Wojnarowski writes that Martin will sign a four-year contract that includes more than $32MM in guaranteed money. Meanwhile, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports Martin’s deal is worth $40MM over four years (Twitter link). We’ll see where the final numbers come in, but it’s possible both reports are accurate — for instance, there might be $32MM+ in guarantees, with additional incentives that could push the overall value higher.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype adds that Martin’s fourth year will be a player option (Twitter link).

Martin, who will bring extensive playoff experience to Philadelphia, could easily fit the roster off the bench or in the starting lineup at power forward. Over the past three seasons with Miami, Martin has averaged 9.6 points and 4.4 rebounds across 195 games (84 starts).

He was especially critical to the Heat’s run to the NBA Finals in 2022/23, when he averaged 19.3 points on 60.2% shooting from the field and 48.9% from deep in the seven-game Eastern Conference Finals against Boston. He nearly came away with the Conference Finals MVP award for that performance.

As Wojnarowski observes, Martin’s 13.6 points per game against the Celtics for his career (playoffs and regular season) are his most against any Eastern Conference opponent. As the Sixers continue to revamp their roster around superstar Joel Embiid, they’re adding a player who has given the reigning NBA champs problems throughout his career.

Philadelphia’s interest in Martin has been reported multiple times since free agency began. However, those reports suggested he was seeking more than what the Sixers were capable of offering.

The Heat also had interest in bringing back the 28-year-old forward, proposing a four-year extension on top of his $7.1MM player option before he decided to turn down that option. According to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald (Twitter link), Miami’s original offer would have been for four years and about $58MM, beginning in 2025/26, for a total of $65MM-ish over five years. However, once Martin declined his option, the Heat could no longer make that offer (they were limited to 8% raises in a free agent contract, rather than the bigger second-year jump they could have included in an extension).

Meanwhile, the Sixers are moving on from Reed, their former No. 58 overall draft pick in 2020. Reed has evolved into a serviceable backup in the frontcourt over the past few seasons. In ’23/24, he averaged 7.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 1.0 blocks, appearing in all 82 of Philadelphia’s regular season games.

However, his $7.7MM contract for next season was fully non-guaranteed, so he was always viewed as a candidate to be traded or released as the 76ers looked to maximize their cap room.

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