At face value, a young and rebuilding Houston Rockets team has no incentive to trade 21-year-old forward KJ Martin. After all, athletic role players of his stature and age are the exact types of players they’re trying to acquire as franchise building blocks.
Yet, barring a contract extension, Martin will become a free agent in 2023 or 2024. Moreover, trade rumors involving Martin have swirled for months, ever since he reportedly approached the Rockets during the offseason about a potential deal due to uncertainty over his role.
At the time, the Rockets had just drafted Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason, a pair of rookie forwards who could eat into Martin’s minutes.
Since then, Martin has found a consistent role as a sixth man with the 2022-23 Rockets, and he appears to be flourishing in it. But rival NBA teams aren’t yet convinced everything is fine.
The Athletic’s Kelly Iko reports:
Rival teams continue to believe the Rockets will eventually move Martin, which explains the continued interest. Still, it would be strange to move a 21-year-old versatile forward on a team-friendly contract that seems to be improving with each season.
“KJ interest makes sense,” an Eastern Conference scout said. “In a way, he’s duplication to (Jae’Sean) Tate who Houston already paid (a contract extension), so teams think he is attainable.”
Martin is scoring 10.5 points per game on 54.9% shooting in 24 minutes per game with the Rockets this season, all career bests. He’s also averaging 5.1 rebounds over that on-court time.
Rival teams continue to believe the Rockets will eventually move K.J. Martin, @KellyIko writes.
“While they aren’t necessarily looking to trade Martin, it’s important to remember that every player has a price.”https://t.co/OhJFd2ynSn pic.twitter.com/vTcMpds1PM
— The Athletic NBA (@TheAthleticNBA) December 19, 2022
To the scout’s point, Tate has barely played this season due to an ankle injury, so it’s understandable other teams might question Martin’s fit once Tate returns. Then again, Houston could conceivably open minutes for both by trading Eric Gordon.
Ultimately, the biggest question may be financial. With the Rockets poised to have lots of salary cap flexibility, would they invest in both Tate and Martin as forwards while also having Eason and Smith on inexpensive rookie deals? Until general manager Rafael Stone puts pen to paper, it appears many of his peers are hopeful he might have cold feet over extending a second veteran forward.
“While they aren’t necessarily looking to trade Martin, it’s important to remember that every player has a price,” Iko concluded. This season’s trade deadline is Feb. 9, 2023 — and without an extension, it sounds as if a Martin deal can’t be fully ruled out until that point.
