Caleb Martin’s free agency carousal has finally come to an end after agreeing to a contract with the Philadelphia 76ers on a deal that was reportedly less than 50% of total value compared to what the Miami Heat were offering him. He bet on himself and loss big time.
Martin agreed to a four-year, $32 million deal with the Sixers on Saturday, according to ESPN’s senior NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski,
According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Martin turned down a five-year, $65 million offer to return to the Heat after an “intense” period of negotiations between the two parties.
One reason the 76ers might have offered more appeal to Martin than the Heat is his role. Wojnarowski noted the 28-year-old is expected to be in the starting five alongside Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George. Maxey and George both received $200M plus contracts this week.
Martin started 88 games over five seasons with the Heat, with 84 of those coming in the past three years. He averaged 28.4 minutes per game in 135 appearances since the start of the 2022-23 campaign.
It has been complex yet inciteful few months for the Heat coming off a less than stellar 2023-24 season that did not live up to heat culture and their lofty standards.
The most shocking thing that has occurred was team president Pat Riley, for all intent and purposes, silencing Jimmy Butler after the star forward said the Heat would have defeated the eventual champion Boston Celtics in the opening round of the playoffs if he had been available to play.
Embed from Getty Images“I thought, ‘Is that Jimmy trolling or is that Jimmy serious?'” Riley told the media on May 6. “If you’re not on the court playing against Boston or on the court playing against the New York Knicks, you should keep your mouth shut on the criticism of those teams.”
Riley also said the team had not talked about an extension for the six-time All-Star at that point. The 34-year-old can ink a two-year deal worth up to $113 million this offseason.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Butler has made the decision to play out next season on his current deal and will not sign an extension with them or another organization if he were to get shipped out of town. Charania noted the Heat have shown “no interest” in trading Butler.
The only moves Miami has made in free agency thus far are agreements to bring back Thomas Bryant and Kevin Love and add Alec Burks from the New York Knicks.
The Heat were limited on what they could do concerning Butler, Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier making a combined $137.6 million unless they were going to trade at least one of them.
But the departure of Martin leaves a gaping hole in the frontcourt for Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra to fill. He averaged 10.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in 64 appearances last season.
