The Philadelphia 76ers were able to bring in former Miami Heat forward Caleb Martin on a much cheaper deal than expected.
$35 million is a substantial amount of money, but not in the NBA world, especially for an established playoff riser. Martin shined in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics, which will come in handy for the championship-contending Sixers. It's almost a guarantee Philadelphia will have to take down the reigning champions to reach the NBA Finals.
Martin's proven skillset led Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus to deem his four-year, $35 million contract one of the 12 best in the league.
"Martin, a proven playoff performer for the Miami Heat with NBA Finals experience in 2022-23, was hoping for a more significant contract this summer," Pincus wrote. "With the Heat facing budget issues and few teams with substantial spending power, Martin took just $8.8 million a season (player option on the final year) to join the contending Sixers."
The 28-year-old is expected to fill the starting power forward role for the 76ers, backed up by KJ Martin and Guerschon Yabusele. At 6-foot-5, he's not the most prolific rebounder, but has MVP Joel Embiid and veteran Andre Drummond alongside him.
He averaged 10 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists on a mediocre 43.1 percent shooting in 64 games last season.
"Almost 29, he's still in his prime, and at the price, Philadelphia is getting a valuable rotation player/borderline starter," Pincus wrote.
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