So what happens to Kevin Martin?

I hope for picks, but I think Morey plans on waiting to move him until he has a deal go through in which he feels like he's winning. So in reality, he'll be moved at the deadline for peanuts.

 

So, which team would be/should be interested in Kevin Martin and what can they offer?

 

I think of you keep Martin his trade value will go up.

 

i imagine he stays for veteran presence to help the youngins transition some.

 

Kevin Martin wouldn't be a good mentor, IMO. His personality isn't what you want in a coach

 

detroit needs a shooting guard

 

I really hope he gets traded for good draft picks.

 

Let him average 25 ppg then sell high at the deadline.

 

I hope he gets traded to a contender. Really classy player that doesn't deserve to have his prime wasted here on a rebuilding team. He can be useful for a lot of different great teams.

 

I think the only reason Martin is still on the Rockets is for trade salary matching purposes.

You could have taken back 5 M more with his contract than with cap space matching his salary. Martin/Patterson could have been traded for Howard while you could then trade smaller contracts for other Orlando players in separate trades.

Now that the Howard trade is done, unless they have another big trade in mind, I expect him to be shopped and traded for cap space, picks and young talent before the season starts (or a cheaper veteran mentor type).

There is absolutely no reason for him to be here now.

 

He won't be traded until the deadline unfortunately.

 

I think you let him play half the season to get his trade value up. He is, after all, in a contract year so he'll have incentive to play harder. Lamb probably isn't quite ready to start and could probably benefit to learn a couple things coming off the bench behind Martin anyway. In addition to that, the Rockets will have a clearer picture of the needs of various teams throughout the league around the trade deadline: who is contending, which rosters might need a veteran shooting guard, who's draft picks will be worth what. It's also the time when teams looking to clear cap space start making trades for expiring contracts.

Since we're just hazarding guesses here, I'm gonna go ahead and say that Kevin Martin gets traded to the Chicago Bulls at or near the trade deadline. If they can trade Kevin and Machado for some kind of trade package consisting of Rip Hamilton, the Bulls 2013 1st rounder, and possibly Marquis Teague (2012 29th pick), I think that's a pretty good haul for the Rockets.

I know many of you will balk at that since Thibs is a defensive minded coach, and Martin can't guard anyone to save his life, but hear me out. Derrick Rose will likely miss the beginning of the season, hopefully coming back just in time to fight for one of the last 3 Eastern berths and push the Bulls into the playoffs, which would result in a 15th-20th draft selection.

Why the Bulls do it: Everyone knows the Bulls have problems on offense. Martin is a pure scorer, just what they need. Their team defense is already very solid, and if anyone can work Martin into an effective defensive scheme, it's Thibs. They've also been trying to rid themselves of Hamilton for a while. If Martin doesn't work out, he's an expiring anyway.

Why the Rockets do it: Martin is a good player, but too old to be in our future plans. Rip only has $1M guaranteed after next year. Draft picks are always great to have, will probably still be looking for a promising back up PG.

 

Interesting scenario Aggie but what would Rip Hamilton do for us? I mean, he's just like Martin if not worse? I like your optimism but it won't make us any better. Keep Martin.

 

1. Martin's on a contract year so you know he'll be bringing it.

2. Morey will wait until Martin's value is high. Most likely around the deadline or after a few other SGs on contenders suffer injuries. Look for playoff bound teams with a stockpile of picks. Some possibilities are:

a. Minnesota: They own a lottery protected 1st from Memphis and 2nd round picks of bad teams. Martin also knows Adelman's system.

b. Denver: They own 2 extra 1sts and 3 seconds. They also have a $13M TPE from trading Nene. If their SG rookie, Fournier, busts and they are contending, don't be surprised if they want to acquire.

c. Atlanta: Josh Smith anyone? Regardless, they still own our lottery protected 1st round pick (via the Nets). They have no talent at SG now that Joe Johnson is gone.

d. Chicago: While they do have Rip, Martin still has a lot more left in the tank. They own Charlotte's lottery protected 1st which becomes unprotected in 2016. We might have to take on some contracts to get this pick though.

e. Utah: They have a loaded front court and could look to balance their roster a little more. They own GS's top 6 protected pick (thru 2014 and becomes 2 2nd rounders after). I wouldn't expect this to happen unless Hayward gets hurt or struggles.

 

We wouldn't keep Rip long term. He's old and washed up. We would simply agree to take him because Chicago doesn't want him, he plays the same position as Martin and he'd help match salaries (they would probably need to throw in more filler from somewhere). Hamilton's contract the following year would only be guaranteed for 1 million, so he'd be might be good to have around in the off-season to work into a trade. That would be his only use to us.

 

martins only value will be to a contending team in need of a 2-guard. right now his value is an expiring contract on rebuilding team, which the rockets are.. he helps the rockets stay above the salary threshold. trading him now makes no sense.

 

Got it. Al pro scenarios here but what is the huge interest with Chicago? Don't tell me because how we acquired Asik!

 

Only brought up Chicago because it's been documented these past couple seasons that, while they are a defensive fortress, they have serious trouble scoring points. They also have been searching for a 2-guard, hence all the past trade rumors involving Courtney Lee. Their backcourt can probably afford to lose a little defense in exchange for Martin's scoring ability.

I based the haul of Hamilton, Teague and the 2013 draft pick on what we've traded our past expirings for. Shane Battier was traded for an undesirable player at the end of his contract/career and a first rounder. So was Jordan Hill. For Camby and Lee, although departing in S&Ts, we got similarly structured packages: cheap prospects + picks and short-term filler contracts.

Trading Martin for the the Bulls' Marquis Teague (prospect), middle first round pick (tradeable assets), and Hamilton's contract (very useful for off-season trades) seems to fit the Rockets' M.O. perfectly, and also happens to be a pretty fair deal that the Bulls would agree to.