CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers are in the middle of moving forward after a tough Round 1 loss to the New York Knicks. It was a back-and-forth series in which the final point differential between the teams was just plus-one in favor of the Knicks.
As the Sixers move forward now, they must make some decisions on a slew of free agents. One of those free agents is KJ Martin who was acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers in the James Harden deal back in October. He played 58 games for the Sixers and averaged 3.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per game.
The minutes were the lowest of his 4-year career as it was tough for him to earn a consistent role, but in his defense, he did have a rather chaotic year.
“It was crazy for me,” Martin said on Friday. “Obviously, before the season started, I got traded from Houston to LA and I was already in LA when I got traded, so I just stayed there. Then training camp, the season started, first couple games, and I got traded here. It was kind of a roller coaster getting moved twice like that, just mentally trying to figure it out — going from being in Houston for three years and learning that team’s structure, to going to LA and getting adjusted to that, to coming here and having to learn a whole new thing.”
It did help Martin that he saw some familiar faces in De’Anthony Melton, Tyrese Maxey, as well as the other moving pieces such as Nic Batum, Robert Covington, and Marcus Morris Sr.
“It was tough, but it’s a part of the business so I had to figure it out,” Martin continued. “It was good, though. I knew a couple of guys here before I came — De’Anthony from LA, Tyrese, we were in the same grade and played AAU against each other; and obviously Mook, RoCo and Nico coming with me from LA so that made it easier for me to get adjusted.”
With that being said, it was certainly tough for Martin to have to sit through a lot of DNPs, but he was able to learn about himself in his fourth season.
“That helped me a lot, really, just seeing the game from a different perspective,” he added. “Obviously it’s irritating not playing because I’m just so used to it and I know I can help, but at the same time, there’s only so much you can control. I have teammates who are out there busting their ass every day, so the least I can do is go out there and support them as much as I can through the whole process, and the games I did play, I impacted the game as much as I could. Whatever opportunity I did have this season, I feel like I (played) to the best of my ability, did my job, and just really supported my teammates.”
As Martin enters free agency now for the first time, he knows what he can bring to the table to help a team whether it’s with Philadelphia or elsewhere.
“Toughness for sure,” he said. “Versatility, being able to guard multiple positions. I think my athleticism and finishing is up there in the league for sure. Just those couple things, I feel like it can help a team a lot and like I said, my IQ for the game — understanding who’s on the floor and making stuff easier for guys, kind of playing off them, I feel like that’s big.”
When considering his age (23), one has to assume there will be a team out there willing to take a chance on him.
“So my agent, he has an understanding of what I can do and I’m sure he’s going to preach that to teams,” Martin finished. “We’re going to see what happens. This is my first free agency, and this was my first playoffs also. This year was crazy — first time being traded, first playoffs and first free agency.”
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