A hungry Caleb Martin is ready to guard four positions for Sixers with his ‘gritty’ style
Caleb Martin brings some Miami Heat toughness to Philly. The Carolina native will provide his versatility and positionless style on defense to help his new team make life tough on opposing wings.
The Miami Heat had aimed to extend Caleb Martin last season, but that plan ultimately failed to materialize. Pat Riley and co. offered the 29-year-old veteran $58M over four years, but Martin’s camp believed they could get more.
The market dictated otherwise so Martin camp’s “failed” gamble turned into the Sixers’ gain when Daryl Morey, Elton Brand and co. signed the forward away from Miami on a new $32M, four-year deal.
In 2022, it was P.J. Tucker they lured away from Miami. Now it’s Martin. The bi-annual Heat Player exception, anyone? If they keep this tradition up, maybe one day they can even the score for allowing Jimmy Butler to escape to South Beach. Jokes aside, there’s a reason Morey has his eyes on basically anyone who dons the black and raspberry. Miami not only wins, they win with very hungry players all looking to overachieve. And that’s Nick Nurse’s music.
At Sixers media day, Martin, who truly put his name on the map during Game 7 of the 2023 East Finals (26 points, 10 boards, 4-of-6 from distance), helped Miami eliminate the Boston Celtics on the road by 19. From an undrafted player to merciless Celtics killer in the biggest game of the year. Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey will take that all day.
And despite having been a core member of #HeatCulture, Martin really likes the vibes in Philly now.
“I think just the buzz with the team. I think everybody’s excited to get going,” Martin told reporters at media day in Camden.
It sounds like Martin thinks this core, featuring Embiid, Maxey and Paul George, has a good mix of both hunger and experience.
“I think the good thing we have is that everybody’s been close to being the last team standing but nobody’s quite done it yet besides [Nick[ Nurse, Kyle [Lowry] and those guys. We all want to be a part of a team … with the ultimate bragging rights. I think we’re all excited to try to make that happen,” Martin added.
