KJ Martin hopes to find better fit with Sixers this time around: ‘It just feels like the right situation’
Martin, a 6-foot-6, 215-pound forward, signed a two-year, $16 million deal with designs on playing a significant role alongside the Sixers' big three of Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey.
LAS VEGAS — At the conclusion of last season, KJ Martin was not sure he wanted to return to the 76ers.
The 6-foot-6, 215-pounder was looking for an opportunity to get substantial playing time. So he wanted to keep his options open.
But he ultimately signed a two-year, $16 million contract to remain with the Sixers on Monday.
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So what happened?
“The roster was open,” he said to The Inquirer at the NBA Summer League. “So it was obviously a possibility. My agent spoke to the front office, and they obviously spoke highly of me. So that was a big part of it, and looking where the dominoes fell, it just felt like the right situation [after Paul George] came and they really don’t have a lot of fours.”
While undersized, Martin is the only power forward listed on the Sixers’ roster. The team has an interest in signing former Sixers power forward and North Philly native Marcus Morris in free agency.
But the squad is loaded with a bunch of wings and perimeter players for now, creating an opportunity for Martin to get playing time.
“For me coming in this year, I’m just going to obviously do what I can to try to start,” he said. “But if not, I’m going to come off the bench, try to do what I can to be sixth man of the year.”
The Sixers acquired the 23-year-old from the Los Angeles Clippers in the Nov. 1 blockbuster trade that sent James Harden to his hometown team.
Martin averaged 3.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in 58 games with two starts for the Sixers last season. He blossomed into a key rotation player late in the season because of injuries.
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He averaged 9.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.0 block in back-to-back road games against the Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs. But Martin followed that by missing the final three games of the season with a toe injury. He was back out of the rotation in the Sixers’ first-round series against the New York Knicks.
For his career, Martin has averages of 8.9 points and 4.2 rebounds in 266 games over four seasons with the Houston Rockets, Clippers, and Sixers.
“My goal this year is going out and competing at a high level,” he said. “Obviously, playing with Tyrese [Maxey] and Joel [Embiid] last year, and PG I played with also [in Los Angeles], so just really feeding off those guys. Now it’s going to be hard for teams to guard.
“What are you going to double-team Joel, and leave PG open or Tyrese? What are you going to do? So I feel like me and the other guys are going to find our way to fit in and do what we can.”
There’s no guarantee that Martin will remain on the team throughout the season. He will become trade eligible on Jan. 15. His contract can be used to acquire a missing piece before the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
But Martin thinks his versatile, athletic, grimy, in-your-face style of play will benefit the Sixers. That’s one of the reasons he signed.
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“You see those guys and what we will need in a four man,” he said. “Obviously, we don’t need a guy out there like Tyrese, Joel, and PG. They’re going to have the ball most of the time.
“So now you need guys that can kind of play off the ball, do little things. Obviously, I can play the four, I can play the dunker, I can be a screener in certain situations, so it just feels right. It just feels like the right situation.”