According to a recent report, the Miami Heat will consider trading Caleb Martin with the February 8 trade deadline just a few days away.
“All I’ve heard is that they’re gonna try and find a location,” Matt Moore stated. “They will investigate the market for him. The trick here, and I got a little banged up on a report with the [New Orleans] Pelicans a couple of weeks ago, is to distinguish between shopping and researching the market. And the difference is that when you’re shopping a man, you’re deliberately saying, “I’d like this player to be off my roster by the end of the year.” There are numerous reasons for this, whether on a contract or a positional basis. But—you deliberately say, ‘My desire would be otherwise.’ Exploring the market is like saying, ‘Let’s see what the options are here since the money is going to be considerable.’ I would say that there is a sense among other clubs that have spoken with Miami that lowering salaries appears to be a higher priority than they initially anticipated — that this team is looking to reduce things pretty drastically.”
The forward performed admirably against the Boston Celtics in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals. Across seven appearances with the Heat during that series, he averaged 19.3 points per game while shooting 60.2 percent from the field.
He likely reserved his best basketball for the series’ deciding Game 7, when he scored 26 points in 45 minutes.
To date, Martin has appeared in 33 of the Heat’s 50 regular-season games in 2023-24. In his third season with Miami, he averages 10.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from deep.
The 28-year-old played 31 minutes off the bench in Miami’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on February 4. Martin scored 11 points, four rebounds, two assists, and one steal while shooting 5-of-9 from the field and 0-of-2 from three.
Miami’s loss to the Clippers was its first in the past three games. Before succumbing to the Clippers, the Heat defeated the Sacramento Kings and the Washington Wizards.
The Heat will play the Orlando Magic at home on Tuesday night, looking for their third win in four games.
The Magic have been playing effective basketball lately, as the team is on a three-game winning streak and is just a few days removed from defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are currently tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the best Western Conference record.
While Martin has yet to demonstrate that he can maintain his performance from the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, he is an important key player for the Heat who impacts both sides of the ball. Therefore, it is debatable whether the Heat should deal him before to the trade deadline.
Leave a Reply