Tag: Kevin Martin

2004 NBA redraft has Sixers selecting Kevin Martin with 9th overall pick

A 2004 NBA re-draft has the Philadelphia 76ers selecting Kevin Martin with the 9th overall pick in the draft.

The Philadelphia 76ers do not have a pick in the 2023 NBA draft, so it’s time to look back at previous drafts and re-do some picks the team made in the past.

The Sixers entered the 2004 draft following a disappointing 2003-04 season. Allen Iverson played in only 43 games due to injuries and coach Randy Ayers was fired after a 21-31 start. Interim coach Chris Ford finished the season 12-18.

With the ninth pick in the 2004 draft, the Sixers selected Andre Iguodala who went on to have a very solid career. He averaged 15.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.9 assists in his eight seasons with the Sixers which included an All-Star appearance in 2012.

In a 2004 redraft performed by HoopsHype, Iguodala goes No. 2 overall to the Charlotte Bobcats. In his place, the Sixers select Kevin Martin who originally went 26th in 2004:

Had Kevin Martin, a late bloomer as a basketball player, attended a bigger college than Western Carolina University, he probably wouldn’t have fallen to 26th in his draft class. Regardless, he wound up having a very solid NBA career, providing high-level scoring thanks to his quickness and off-the-dribble shooting, even with the funky release he had on his jumper.

Martin had a really underrated career. He averaged 17.4 points in 714 career games, averaged at least 20 points a game in six seasons, and he was productive everywhere he went. It is intriguing to wonder what his fit would have looked like next to Iverson.

[lawrence-related id=80275,80281,80278]

“This is probably at the top of the …

“This is probably at the top of the list for me,” Martin said. “I’m not going to be in the NBA Hall of Fame, so the (Circle of Champions), this is the final hurrah for me (as a player). Just the greats that have been honored in there, like Michael Redd, LeBron (James), if you are in a category with them as an NBA player you’ve done something right in life.”

While the final chapter of his playing …

While the final chapter of his playing days is now closed, the one on his basketball journey is still being composed. His remains a part owner of the Brisbane Bullets, of the NBL, in Australia, where he also serves in a front office role. He also remains active in buying and selling real estate in Florida, which he has done for 12 years. He said he has no regrets about retiring — and leaving millions on the table — when he still had a place in the league.

Ray: Can you name an all-star five for …

Ray: Can you name an all-star five for the Kings from your years with the team, as well as an opponents’ all-star five? Gary Gerould: For the Kings, I have to include Mitch Richmond, Chris Webber and Peja Stojaković. I probably have to include DeMarcus Cousins. I know that is frontline-heavy and I have not done justice to guards. I thought about Reggie Theus; I thought about Mike Bibby; I thought about Kevin Martin. In view of the success that the Kings had in that eight season run where Bibby was involved, I would make him probably the fifth guy. So Richmond, Stojaković, Webber, Cousins, Bibby is the five that I would go with.

Sixers 2004 NBA re-draft: Kevin Martin instead of Andre Iguodala

In this 2004 re-draft, the Philadelphia 76ers select Kevin Martin rather than Andre Iguodala.

What if you could go back in time and just change things? What if you could go back and correct some mistakes your favorite team made and change the future? Well, that is what Bleacher Report did with the 2004 NBA Draft as they did a full re-draft.

If you remember correctly, the Philadelphia 76ers selected an Arizona athlete by the name of Andre Iguodala with the ninth overall pick. For the Sixers, this was not exactly a mistake as he turned out to be one of the more versatile players in the draft and he made his mark on Sixers history. However, with the re-draft, Iguodala was selected second overall by the Charlotte Bobcats so that means he is off the board for Philadelphia.

So, the Sixers would move on to select Kevin Martin out of Western Carolina. B/R:

The Sixers are getting a player in Kevin Martin who could hardly be more different from Andre Iguodala, the Swiss army knife they grabbed here in real life.

Martin was a pure scorer who did little else. He was deadly from deep and gifted with foul-drawing craft that toed the line between savvy and infuriating.

Despite “out in front” chest-pass shooting form that included a gather from his left hip, Martin could stripe it from deep. He hit 38.4 percent of his threes over a dozen seasons, and his career 87.0 percent mark from the foul line demonstrates aesthetics don’t matter when the ball goes in.

He’s the top per-game scorer in this class, sitting at 17.4 points per contest, and Martin also leads all 2004 picks with five seasons scoring at least 20 points per game.

Nobody picked in 2004 has a 50-point game but Martin, who went off against the Warriors on April 1, 2009. His pair of 48-point outings give him three of the four highest-scoring individual games recorded by his class.

He didn’t defend, rebound or pass, but Martin is this draft’s best high-volume, high-efficiency scorer by a hefty margin.

The Sixers were coming off a disappointing 2003-04 season that included a lot of drama between Allen Iverson and the two coaches of that team, Randy Ayers and Chris Ford. So, they went with Iguodala in this draft and he made a big impact helping the Sixers get back to the playoffs, but Martin’s high-level scoring would have been a great fit next to Iverson for years to come.

Martin was selected 26th overall by the Sacramento Kings in the actual draft back in 2004 and he went to average 17.4 points in his career topping out at a season average of 24.6 points in 2008-09. He played for the Kings, the Houston Rockets, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the San Antonio Spurs before retiring in 2016. [lawrence-related id=29221,29204,29207]

Snapshot: A look back at Kevin Martin, a pure bucket getter

Kevin Martin was a quality shooter who could score during his 12-year NBA career.

When Kevin Martin stepped on the floor, he had an air about him that just screamed he had to be checked.

Whether Martin was pulling up for a jumper or driving to the basket, his whereabouts regularly had to be known.

Martin played 12 NBA seasons, and three of them were with the Houston Rockets. During the first stint of his career, Martin made his name as quality shooter who could score with the Sacramento Kings. While with the Kings, he averaged 17.1 points per game and shot 38.6% from the 3-point line.

He played in Sacramento from his rookie season in 2004-05 until the middle of the 2009-10 season, when he was traded to the Rockets. 

Though Martin was never an All-Star, he was a bucket getter throughout his career. Martin scored 17.4 points per game and shot 38.4% from the 3-point line during his career.

Some of his best years were in Houston, as he averaged 21.3 points per game and shot 36.4% from the 3-point line while with the franchise.

The video below shows one of Martin’s best performances as a Rocket. He scored 32 points in the first half against the Cleveland Cavaliers, finishing with 40 points as the Rockets won, 110-95.

What made Martin a tough cover was that he could score in multiple ways. He was crafty in getting to the rim. He could move without the ball, and he could shoot off the dribble. Another one of his best assets was his catch-and-shoot ability. With his release fluid, Martin flinged 1,141 3-pointers into the hoop during his career — 285 of those threes came with the Rockets.

Martin had eight 40-point games during his career, with his magnum opus being his career-high, 50-point outburst coming during the 2008-09 season as a member of the Kings.

Retiring in 2016, Martin didn’t have an especially long career. When he was in the league, he had six seasons where he averaged at least 20.0 points a game.

[lawrence-related id=26932,26922,26906,26896]