With playoff dynamo Caleb Martin, Sixers go from Big Three to Legit Five

Caleb Martin is a perfect fit for the new-look Sixers. Athletically, and thematically. They are a team that is built with a near-singular focus on winning in the postseason. He is a player who has consistently shown himself to be uniquely built to perform in playoff games.

Pay no attention to that trifling matter of the regular season. At least, for a moment. If the Sixers woke up tomorrow needing to win a playoff series against the Celtics or Knicks or Bucks, they would do so with a starting five that looks every bit their adversary’s equal.

I’ll leave that last sentence to hang there for a bit. It may not be entirely true. At the very least, it is debatable. What matters right now is that the argument can be made in good faith, with a straight face, with plenty of evidence on one’s side.

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That is an accomplishment. Regardless of what happens between now and October, however their roster expresses itself within the framework of an 82-game season, the Sixers will enter the 2024-25 season with legitimate reason to believe that they can be the last ones standing. That is more than they had a month ago, after a first-round loss to the Knicks. It is much more than they had two weeks ago, when New York made its landscape-shifting acquisition of Mikal Bridges just as the Sixers’ hopes of adding another star of their own appeared to have dimmed. You can argue that it is more than they’ve had in any of the last six seasons.

I don’t mean to suggest that Martin himself warrants this level of enthusiasm. He isn’t a dynamic scorer like Kristaps Porziņģis or a defensive stopper like OG Anunoby or Jrue Holiday. You can argue that the Celtics and Knicks have the edge at that depth of the starting lineup. At his very best, Martin exists at the upper end of role players, of the guys who do the things that need to be done to maximize the players who do the things that few others can do. But he is a perfect fit within the context of what the Sixers needed to take their top-heavy approach and field a sensible and tactically cohesive starting five.

Martin may not be a superstar, but he is a unique player. There are long stretches of the regular season where he looks like a dime-a-dozen wing. And then there are these moments of postseason brilliance when he transforms into the kind of player who can tilt the balance of a game, and, thus, a series.

Look at his splits, regular season vs. postseason. They are a remarkable thing.

During the Heat’s run to the NBA Finals in 2023, Martin was on the court for 63% of Miami’s total playoff minutes. When he was out there, they were 5.6 points better on defense and 8.8 points better on offense (per 100 possessions) than they were when he was on the bench. While he started just four of a possible 23 games, he averaged 30.2 minutes per outing.

The gap between the regular season and postseason makes Martin a difficult player to evaluate. The last two years, he has converted just 31.5% of his corner three-point attempts during the regular season, well below the ideal threshold for a team constructed like the Sixers. In the playoffs, though, he has knocked down 42.3% of those attempts.

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The disparity in Martin’s play could be as much about the disparity in Jimmy Butler’s play. If so, that’s one reason to think he might elevate his game even further when playing with the space afforded by the trio of Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George. Whatever the case, the overarching point is this: the Sixers had limited choices when it came to finding a fifth starter alongside their Big Three and Kelly Oubre Jr. Martin offers as good of a fit and as much upside as any player who was available.

Plenty of questions remain. The Sixers have set the ceiling of this team. The remainder of the offseason will set the floor. In an ideal world, they would add another player who can handle the ball when Maxey is off the floor. Right now, the answer would presumably be some combination of George and veteran minimum signee Eric Gordon. They would add a player capable of guarding the four, particularly when George is off the court. Last year, the Sixers did not sign Oubre until September. The signing proved to be as critical as any they had made up to that point.

For now, they at least have a team that we can envision in its completed form.

» READ MORE: Murphy: Paul George was the Sixers’ only hope for a title. The risk is big. The odds speak for themselves.