The Mavericks are opening the season with most of the roster in place, but one move from the previous front office still stands out as a problem: Caleb Martin.
Martin can still help an NBA team. The issue is that Dallas doesn’t look like the right landing spot for him anymore. He came to the Mavericks in the Nico Harrison era, part of a deal that sent Quentin Grimes the other way, and now the new front office has a decision to make about how to clean up that mistake.
The fit is awkward in every direction. Dallas already has too many forwards, a roster imbalance that has drawn plenty of criticism from fans and media alike. Moving Grimes for Martin cost the team one of its better guards, and since then the Mavericks have been short on shot creation and playmaking.
That problem only got worse this offseason. Dallas added more forward bodies, including Santi Aldama, Zaccharie Risacher, Morez Johnson Jr. and Tobi Lawal in the draft, while still carrying wings such as P.J.
Washington, Max Christie and Cooper Flagg. There simply isn’t much room for another forward, especially one who hasn’t forced his way into the picture.
Martin hasn’t helped his case on the floor, either. In the preseason game against the New Orleans Pelicans, he went 0-for-5 and committed multiple turnovers. That kind of night doesn’t exactly push him up the depth chart, and Dusty May doesn’t have room to hand out minutes to the former Miami Heat forward when others are already in line.
The player who made noise in that 2023 Eastern Conference Finals series against the Boston Celtics has not looked like that guy in Dallas.
Health is another issue. Martin was dealing with a hip strain when the Mavericks first acquired him, and it took weeks before he made his debut. Now he’s sidelined again with a thumb sprain and will miss today’s season opener against the Houston Rockets.
In all, Martin has already missed 48 games over the past season and a half since arriving in Dallas. For a team that has dealt with major injury issues over the last two seasons, availability matters. The Mavericks need players they can count on to stay on the floor, and Martin hasn’t given them that.
The age question is part of it too. Martin’s timeline doesn’t line up neatly with Dallas’.
Some would point to Daniel Gafford and Kyrie Irving as examples of older players on a young team, but Martin isn’t producing at that level. He’s averaged 3.9 points per game with the Mavericks, and he doesn’t appear to be offering the kind of veteran leadership that makes an older roster piece worth the space.
At this point, Martin looks more like a roadblock than a solution. Moving on from him would open more room for younger players, including two-way guys like the rumored Walter Clayton Jr. and Jett Howard, to get a chance.
Martin still has value in the league. He just doesn’t seem to have the right fit in Dallas. Harrison brought him in as part of a vision that no longer exists, and with Harrison gone, the Mavericks may need to move on from that trade acquisition as well.
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For Dallas, the appeal is in the possibility, not the certainty. Clayton is still in the early part of his pro career, but the Mavericks clearly see a chance to develop a guard who can handle some point-guard duties and give the team another option when Irving needs help or rest. To clear the way, the front office made a corresponding roster move, underscoring how small margins can be when a team is trying to shore up its bench. [Read more 🡒]