KJ Martin agrees to two-year, $16 million deal to return to Sixers

LAS VEGAS – KJ Martin is returning to the 76ers.

He agreed Friday to a two-year, $16 million contract, a source confirmed.

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The 6-foot-6, 215-pounder is a young and athletic wing capable of playing both forward positions.

The 23-year-old was originally acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers in the Nov. 1 blockbuster trade that sent James Harden to his hometown Clippers.

Martin averaged 3.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in 58 games with two starts for the Sixers this past season. For his career, Martin has averages of 8.9 points and 4.2 rebounds in 266 career games over four seasons with the Houston Rockets, Clippers, and Sixers.

Jeff Dowtin Jr. was supposed to play with the Sixers’ summer league team only through the Salt Lake City Summer League. However, the point guard was with the team during practice Friday in Las Vegas and will play in the NBA Summer League tournament.

“Just the opportunity to play,” Dowtin said of remaining with the Sixers summer squad. “I always love to play whenever I get a chance. So just to be around the guys, hopefully win a lot of ball games for this summer league in Vegas and just get an opportunity to play and showcase it.”

All this comes several weeks after the Sixers declined to pick up his team option for the 2024-25 season. As a result, the 27-year-old is an unrestricted free agent ahead of next season.

He had opportunities to play with other teams in Vegas. But he felt the Sixers provided him the best opportunity. And he could be right.

Dowtin averaged 17 points and 5.3 assists while shooting 50% on three-pointers in the SLC summer league. The three-year veteran said his stellar play is the result of putting in a lot of offseason work on his game.

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“Whenever your number is called, whenever your opportunity is called, you can showcase what you have been working on for the past couple of months,” he said. “That’s all it really is, to be honest with you.”

The 6-foot-3, 185-pounder averaged 4.3 points and 2.3 assists in 12 games last season. His best game of the season came in a road loss to the Phoenix Suns on March 20. He finished with a career-high 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting to go along with five assists.

Dowtin originally signed a two-way contract with the Sixers on March 2 before it converted to a standard deal on April 4.

But have the Sixers given him any indication that he’ll have an opportunity to rejoin the regular-season roster?

“That’s not really up to me in a sense,” Dowtin said. “My only job is to play whenever I get an opportunity to showcase my talents, and whatever happens, happens.”

Aminu Mohammad will also play for the Sixers in the NBA Summer League. Meanwhile, Darius Days (illness), Romeo Langford (left big toe sprain), and Justin Powell (left groin strain) will miss the tournament.

The Sixers open play at 7 p.m. Saturday against the Detroit Pistons at the Thomas & Mack Center.

They’ll follow up that game with a matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers at 8:30 p.m. July 15. The next day, the Sixers will face the Minnesota Timberwolves at 8 p.m. in the Cox Pavilion. And their final non-playoff-round game will be against the Spurs at 8:30 p.m. July 19 at the Thomas & Mack.