PicoBlog

It feels like forever ago — and because of the way news spreads in this new world, it was forever ago — but back on Thursday, I wrote about the need for the LA Clippers to surround Kawhi Leonard and Paul George with role players who possess positive traits that would fit in seamlessly around the stars.

Late Saturday afternoon, the Clippers acquiesced.

The Clippers are going to complete a trade for Houston Rockets forward Kenyon Martin Jr., in exchange for two future second-round picks, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The reason the Clippers were able to do this trade is due to a $2.1 million trade exception they had from the Reggie Jackson-for-Mason Plumlee swap that they did at the trade deadline in February.

Essentially, the Clippers got Martin for nothing. It’s hard to complain from a business standpoint. But how does Martin fit on the court? That’s what we’re here to examine.

Share

As things presently stand, the Clippers have 13 players under guaranteed contract for next season. That’s counting Russell Westbrook, who is reportedly heading back to the Clippers on a two-year, $7.8 million deal, with the second year being a player option, per Wojnarowski. That number could rise to 14 guaranteed contracts depending on if the Clippers opt to re-sign backup center Mason Plumlee. First-round pick Kobe Brown would make it 15.

Martin averaged 12.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists on 56.9 percent shooting this past season as he played in all 82 games for the Houston Rockets, starting 49 of them. Martin shot 31.5 percent on 2.6 three-point attempts per game and 68 percent from the free throw line.

In his first two years in the league, Martin managed to connect on 36 percent of his three-point attempts, taking 264 threes across 124 games. However, Martin is shooting 34.5 percent over the course of his career on catch-and-shoot threes (461 attempts) and 32.3 percent on corner three-pointers (130 attempts). As a result, Martin is properly not viewed as a quality shooter or even a tangible threat beyond the arc.

Because of this lack of shooting, it makes playing alongside Russell Westbrook a lot tougher proposition for the Clippers, and likely means Martin would be a utility bench piece, deployed much in the same manner that Terance Mann is. The difference, though, is that Mann is the better role player and threat.

The reason Martin is an interesting comparison to Mann is because you have to apply context for what you’ve seen from Martin so far. You have to remind yourself that Martin did not go to college, and definitely didn’t go to four years of college like Mann did. Right now, Martin is the same age Mann was when Mann got drafted.

Mann wasn’t a viable shooter when he came into the league, but he’s worked dillegently with player development coach Shaun Fein over the last few years to tighten up and hone that skill, cranking home 38.4 percent of his three-point attempts over the last three seasons. But Mann is oftentimes left completely open by the opposition, much like Martin is and will continue to be.

There are three things that Martin has going for him, though: (1) he’s a wholly versatile defender that can defend multiple positions; (2) he makes solid, quick decisions once the ball in his hands and doesn’t overextend; (3) he’s always moving around the floor and trying to find every little seam he can. Those are the hallmarks of a player archetype that can play on this team.

Can’t shoot? That’s OK. As long as you make sure to move without the ball, cutting into space and making a quick decision once the ball finds your hands, you will have a place.

According to Synergy, Kenyon Martin Jr. averaged 1.41 points per possession last season on cut possessions and 1.25 points per possession when operating as a pick-and-roll roll man. A key area Martin will help in, as well, is in transition, where he averaged 1.21 points per possession last season. There are ways for the Clippers to leverage Martin’s lack of shooting into a positive, mainly using him as a screener, having him dive off the ball, and even as an offensive rebounder. Martin averaged 1.5 offensive rebounds per game in Houston last year.

The biggest worry with this move, at least on the surface, is how much the spacing would be bogged down with both Martin and Westbrook on the floor together. It’s not a death sentence, but it’s such a gross misevaluation of talent and skills that it makes you wonder if another move is on the horizon.

Let’s assume, for the sake of our own mental health, that the Clippers are not done with their overhaul — or whatever you would like to call it — this offseason. Let’s assume, for argument’s sake, that they make a trade to acquire James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers. Just for shits and giggles.

Now, without delving too much into what a proposed package for Harden would look like as I hate doing those sorts of things since it willingly throws players onto an imaginary trade block, let’s just operate under the assumption that Harden is a Clipper and the Clippers have to fill out the rest of the roster around him, Westbrook, Leonard, and George.

They could do a lot worse than Martin when it comes to that specific fit. No, he’s not a small-ball five and, no, he’s not a floor-spacer. But that wouldn’t necessarily preclude him from finding his way into lineups alongside those four players, and especially alongside Harden, Leonard, and George. We all know Tyronn Lue loves his small-ball groups. It wouldn’t get much smaller than that. Well it could, as we saw in the postseason, but that’s neither here nor there.

The Houston Rockets averaged 1.31 points per possession last season when Martin set a ball screen for Kevin Porter Jr., according to NBA CourtOptix. They also averaged 1.08 when he set one for Jalen Green and 1.07 when setting one for Daishen Nix, who has since been waived by the Rockets.

Now, this does somewhat work against the ‘F’ grade that Basketball Index gave to Martin, so take these numbers with a grain of salt if you wish. These are just the numbers that CourtOptix tracked. But I will say this: according to Synergy, Martin averaged 1.30 points per possession in 60 possessions as the pick-and-roll roll man back in 2021-22 and 1.38 points per possession across 45 possessions when looking at 2020-21.

One thing is for certain, as well: in Lue’s system, everyone must screen; but no players more than the ones who are operating in small-small action. So while Martin doesn’t grade out particularly amazing according to Basketball Index, I’d imagine you see Martin do it a lot more in Los Angeles than he did in Houston.

This is also where Harden factors in. Harden and Martin spent an extremely brief time together in Houston prior to Harden’s first trade request back in 2020. There were only three games where both Harden and Martin played, but the duo spent zero possessions together on the floor during those three contests. So they’ve technically never played together. (Don’t you just love technicalities?)

But Harden’s efficiency as a pick-and-roll ball-handler, specifically as a passer, is undeniable. According to CourtOptix, there were eight different players on Philadelphia last season that Harden received at least three ball screens per game from: Tyrese Maxey (3.0), Tobias Harris (3.7), De’Anthony Melton (4.4), Georges Niang (4.7), P.J. Tucker (5.1), Paul Reed (5.5), Montrezl Harrell (5.5), and Joel Embiid (20.6). The worst rating was Melton, with the 76ers averaging 1.08 points per possession on those ball screens.

Harden will be the best passer Martin has played with. It’s not even a question. As a result, it opens up a whole slew of opportunities that could allow Martin to operate off the ball in the middle of the floor as a screen setter that attacks the seams in 4-on-3 situations whenever Harden gets doubled. And believe me, Harden is going to get doubled. Only Luka Doncic was doubled more times per game last season than Harden was, per CourtOptix.

There exists a very real world where Martin shares the floor with Harden, Leonard, and George, floating into the space as a screener and rolling downhill with his insane athleticism that allows him to complete even the most arduous dunk attempts. Martin shot 75.5 percent inside the restricted area last season. That was fourth-best in the entire league among all players to take at least as many attempts as he did (383). That 75.5 percent inside the restricted area came one season after he posted a 66.7 percent mark and two years after converting 66.3 percent. For his career, Martin has made 70.5 percent of his 852 restricted area attempts.

This is probably where we need to retrain our brains on positions and just focus on skill. Martin might be wholly positionless, which is also the intriguing part. He’s obviously not a guard, but can he be a forward if he’s not a floor-spacer? Can he be a center if he’s not taller? (Martin is 6-foot-6, by the way.) Why can’t he just be a basketball player and then fit everyone else in around him?

As you saw before in the latest Mason Plumlee article, those metrics listed above are Basketball Index’s LEBRON (Luck-adjusted player Estimate using a Box prior Regularized ON-off) and Dunks and Threes’ EPM (Estimated Plus-Minus).

These do not paint Martin in a favorable light, but let’s look at this a different way: just based on these two metrics, Martin has gotten better over his three-year NBA career. That’s not to say he’s a good player. I think the warts — lack of shooting, lack of ball-handling, lack of size, etc. — are obviously very evident. However, when we examine role players and role player archetypes, you’re not looking for someone you can plug in and have be a star. You’re more or less looking for someone who can fit a specific role and not have their weaknesses creep up more than their strengths.

If we’re examining Martin for the role he’s likely to be featured in — hybrid energy player who provides athleticism in transition and in the half-court; switchability defensively; and the potential to be used as a roller in ball screens — then it looks a lot better. This also doesn’t account for the fact we’re likely headed for a very real scenario where Martin was acquired to be the player who replaces a whole lot of the minutes that were absorbed by wings who will not be on this roster by the time training camp opens in October.

Factoring in a potential Harden addition, players who could be going out, the Leonard and George gravity and bump, and the maleability he naturally possesses, there is a world where Martin is a big positive for the Clippers next season and we look back on this move from July 1 as a fantastic swing for the fences that helped plug a hole that was soon to emerge.

There’s also a hilarious possibility that Kenyon Martin Jr. was acquired to be sent out in a trade package for someone and I will have written all these words and you’ll have wasted your time reading them for nothing. God damn I love this stupid sport.

ncG1vNJzZmiipajBqrrRrqqsp16owqO%2F05qapGaTpLpwvI6knKexn6N6rq3RraCnZZufeqS4yKmnnqqjYsGzrcOeZKunk6Cytb%2BMmqWapKmotrQ%3D