{"id":121944,"date":"2025-02-05T20:12:55","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T01:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=121944"},"modified":"2025-02-05T20:12:55","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T01:12:55","slug":"caleb-martin-mavericks-more-trades-before-trade-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/05\/caleb-martin-mavericks-more-trades-before-trade-deadline\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does Caleb Martin Fit With The Mavericks, and Will The Mavs Make Any More Trades Before Trade Deadline?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison didn’t waste time trying to fill around the edges after making the Luka Doncic<\/a>–Anthony Davis<\/a> blockbuster. The Mavs acquired Caleb Martin<\/a> from Philadelphia for Quintin Grimes<\/a> and a 2025 draft pick.<\/p>\n

How Does Caleb Martin Fit With The Mavericks, and Will The Mavs Make Any More Trades Before the Trade Deadline?<\/h2>\n

The immediate good news for Martin and Grimes is that both players will soon join their new teams. Dallas didn’t have five players available against Philadelphia, including Martin and Davis. Dereck Lively II<\/a>, Dwight Powell<\/a>, and P.J. Washington<\/a> also remained out. On a positive note for the Mavericks, Max Christie<\/a> made his debut.<\/p>\n

Trade Details<\/h3>\n

Dallas Mavericks Received:<\/h4>\n

Caleb Martin<\/p>\n

Philadelphia 76ers Received:<\/h4>\n

Quentin Grimes<\/p>\n

2025 Second Round Pick (own)<\/p>\n

Why The Mavericks Acquired Caleb Martin<\/h3>\n

Dallas lost a lot with the Doncic trade. While the Mavericks got the player they wanted in return, Davis is only capable of contributing so much in terms of production compared to Doncic. The 32-year-old is a talented two-way big who can dominate multiple facets of the game when at the top of his game\u2014he is nearly unstoppable offensively and on the glass and can be a force defensively.<\/p>\n

That said, Davis is not the shooter, passer, or ball-handler that Doncic is. Also, Doncic is not the only player the Mavericks lost in deal. While Markieff Morris<\/a> has been an end-of-the-bench player for the last several seasons, Maxi Kleber<\/a> was essential to the team’s rotation.<\/p>\n

Kleber is a big body that gave the Mavs a physical defender who effectively defended opposing fours and fives in the interior and perimeter. He also provided floor spacing with his shooting, averaging 1.1 threes at a 34.5% clip.<\/p>\n

So, while Davis’ arrival marks a new beginning for the franchise and gives the Mavs a gluttony of centers through the 32-year-old prefers to play the four — which he will spend time –, the Mavs frontcourt depth took a hit for the time being. Lively projects to be sidelined until at least March.<\/p>\n

When Davis is able to return, Washington will move to the three. Washington will also get most of the non-Davis minutes at the four. But that still leaves Naji Marshall<\/a> having to spend minutes there. Marshall is a competitor and quality defender but is better suited to play the wing.<\/p>\n

Hence, the trade for Martin.<\/p>\n

What Does Martin Bring To The Mavericks<\/h4>\n

Martin is highly versatile and competitive. Despite being undersized, Martin is an elite athlete who can rebound and provide some rim protection. He is a decent passer and can guard four positions.<\/p>\n

Martin will do all the little things that help teams win. He excels in transition, is good at drawing fouls, and can occasionally make an occasional three.<\/p>\n

Martin has not played since January 10 because of a hip injury. Before the trade was announced, he was considered questionable for last night’s game.<\/p>\n

Martin had one of his best seasons in his first year with the Sixers. In 31 games, Martin produced one double-double and averaged 9.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists. He also made 1.1 threes a game while shooting 43.5\/37.9\/62.2.<\/p>\n

Martin figures to be part of the Mavericks’ second unit. He will see most of his time at small forward behind Washington, though he could see time in a small ball situation at power forward, being the No.3\u00a0 option.<\/p>\n

Dallas (26-25) concludes its five-game at Boston on Thursday. The Mavericks have lost three straight and seven of their last 21. They are 12-15 on the road this season.<\/p>\n

Grant Afseth of Dallas HoopsJournal.com<\/a> reported that Gafford practiced on Wednesday and is considered questionable to play against the Celtics. Gafford left the 76ers game early with a left shoulder injury.<\/p>\n

Afseth added that Davis also practiced Wednesday<\/a> and is questionable to make his debut against Boston. Meanwhile, Washington, Powell, and Martin will remain sidelined on Thursday.<\/p>\n

When Dallas becomes fully healthy, I project the Mavs’ second unit to look like. Gafford will backup Lively, though those two players’ roles could flip\/flop. Christie, Marshall, Exum, and Martin will be part of their second unit. Christie or Exum will be the odd man out if Jason Kidd<\/a> decides to go with a nine-man rotation.<\/p>\n

Projecting Mavericks Rotation (When Healthy)<\/h4>\n

Starting Five: Daniel Gafford, Anthony Davis, PJ Washington, Klay Thompson<\/a> and Kyrie Irving<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Second Unit: Dereck Lively II, Naji Marshall, Caleb Martin, Dante Exum, and Max Christie.<\/p>\n

Next Up: Spencer Dinwiddie, Dwight Powell<\/p>\n

End of Bench: Olivier-Maxence Prosper<\/a>, Jaden Hardy<\/a><\/p>\n

With Lively out for likely at least three more weeks, it likely means that Davis will see more time at the five than he would prefer. That also means that Martin and Marshall will see a little more time on the court than when Lively returns. Powell wi<\/p>\n

Will Dallas Make Any More Moves This Year?<\/h4>\n

The Mavericks will not make any more major trades. The Mavs have 14 players on standard deals, though they are only $171,000 from being hard capped. Therefore, it is unlikely that they will make an even mid-major deal unless they package Spencer Dinwiddie and\u00a0Olivier-Maxence Prosper<\/a> with Powell.<\/p>\n

However, the Mavs are more likely to move Dinwiddie or Powell to create space for a buyout candidate. Right now, they can only sign players to 10-day contracts.<\/p>\n

Since Martin is in his first season of a four-year, $9.1 million deal, Harrison made the deal with the future in mind. Grimes rejected the Mavs offer for an extension and thus will likely be a restricted free agent this summer.<\/p>\n

Dallas has 12 players under contract for next season, with salaries totaling $187.8 million. The Mavericks have one first-round pick and a second-round selection (via Detroit) in the 2025 draft. Kyrie Irving<\/a> and Powell have player options.<\/p>\n

But if Irving and Powell exercise their options and the Mavericks don’t make any moves prior to July 1, they project to be $14.9 million below the second apron. Therefore, unless they make a major trade, the Mavs will head into the 2025-26 campaign with essentially the same roster as at the end of this season.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of \u00a9 Bill Streicher<\/a> Imagn Image<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison didn’t waste time trying to fill around the edges after making the Luka Doncic–Anthony Davis blockbuster. The Mavs acquired Caleb Martin from Philadelphia for Quintin Grimes and a 2025 draft pick. How Does Caleb Martin Fit With The Mavericks, and Will The Mavs Make Any More Trades Before the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":121978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,30],"tags":[240,406,1382],"class_list":["post-121944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-mavericks","tag-anthony-davis","tag-kyrie-irving","tag-nba-trade"],"modified_by":"Daniel Benjamin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121944"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122190,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121944\/revisions\/122190"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}