JULY 15: The Sixers have officially re-signed Martin, according to a team press release.
“KJ Martin is a talented young player who brings athleticism and versatility to our front court,” team executive Daryl Morey said. “He’s a fearless competitor who is just scratching the surface of his potential. We’re eager to see his continued growth here in Philadelphia.”
The second year of Martin’s deal is non-guaranteed, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.
JULY 13: Forward KJ Martin is signing a two-year deal to return to the Sixers, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Martin is set to earn a maximum of $16MM over the two years of the deal.
While Martin’s production with the Sixers last season was modest — 3.7 points per game in 58 appearances with Philadelphia — re-signing on such a contract allows the Sixers to maintain trade flexibility.
Philadelphia originally acquired Martin as part of the trade that sent James Harden to the Clippers early in the 2023/24 season. Martin didn’t play much for either the Sixers or the Clippers, but he was impressive early in his career with the Rockets. The No. 52 pick in 2020 by the Rockets, Martin averaged 10.5 points and 4.8 rebounds across 206 games in the first three seasons over his career.
Still just 23, Martin can serve as a deep reserve option at the forward position for the Sixers or be used as a trade piece when he becomes eligible to be dealt in January.
As cap expert Yossi Gozlan observes (Twitter link), the Sixers will be over the first apron after they fill out their roster and will not be able to take in more salary than they send out. However, Philadelphia could package Martin’s deal with others to acquire another player making less at the deadline. Alternatively, he could be traded into a team’s cap space and allow the Sixers to duck the luxury tax.
We wrote that such a move was a likely outcome after the Sixers renounced nearly all of their free agent cap holds except for Martin’s earlier this week.
In 266 career appearances with the Rockets, Clippers and Sixers, Martin holds career averages of 8.9 points and 4.2 rebounds.
Human trade exception
Not sure why 16mil. He was out of nurse rotation most of the year. I hope he improves and can get into the rotation next year
Seems like a lot of overlap bw KJ Martin & KJ Oubre. Now they just need to sign Josh Smith, Leonard Miller & Lamar Odom & they’ll have the market cornered.
You didn’t read the article and/or don’t understand the Sixers’ situation. They signed KJ Martin to this deal so they can trade him.
The sixers can now use his 8mil contract plus picks to add a rotation piece.
8 million buys a lot of Kielbasa
To complicated for sixer haters.
I did read the article but some were reporting Trent Jr was going to sign with sixers. That’s why I saying 16mil over 2.
I bet that most of it is non-guaranteed so that they van exactly match the player they trade for later…
This is the exact same deal that Josh Okogie got. Although Okogie is more seasoned, they are probably around the same skill level – probably what is agent brought up.
It’s trade bait. They are hoping to trade him and soem picks at the deadline for a rotational piece and if the offers aren’t there they can either cut the deal in the next year or use it as trade bait again
Really smart move
Martin can still be a solid rotation piece. He plays D and rebounds. Does the dirty work. Always a place for a player like that.
Ya, I don’t know why people are complaining…He reminds me a lot of Aaron Gordon
Gotta love how no one understands this deal… the value has zero to do with KJ Martin as a player. It’s literally an 8M trade exception, that’s how you should view this.
In order to create the cap space to sign Paul George and Caleb Martin, the Philadelphia 76ers renounced the free agent rights to the following players:
Nic Batum
Robert Covington
Dewayne Dedmon
Jeff Dowtin
Tobias Harris
Kyle Lowry
De’Anthony Melton
Paul Millsap
Kyle O’Quinn
Kelly Oubre Jr.
Cameron Payne
Myles Powell
Mike Scott
Guess they all didnt have bird rights or would not have been good trade/rotation pieces or didnt want to return (Tobias Harris). At least Martin has an upside.
The 2nd year is non-guaranteed. A post-season trade would guarantee X amount based on returning salary.
Martin is essentially cashing out on his playing career by agreeing to be matching salary in a future trade.