Should the Sixers Consider A Reunion with KJ Martin?

With the NBA getting ready to start off the 2025-26 season, teams around the league have started to make some final adjustments ahead of their respective training camps. This certainly applied to the Philadelphia 76ers, who announced a flurry of signings on Monday night, but it can also be said for the Utah Jazz.

The Utah Jazz have waived forward KJ Martin. He appeared in 19 games (nine starts) last season with Utah, averaging 6.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 22.7 minutes per game. pic.twitter.com/MXUoeTY1bo
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) September 23, 2025

As reported by HoopHype's Michael Scotto, the Jazz parted ways with former Sixers rotation piece KJ Martin after what was a rocky stretch of games towards the end of last season. Across the 19 games in which Martin appeared in, he averaged 6.3 points and 2.8 rebounds, playing behind the likes of Oscar Tshiebwe in Will Hardy's system.

While his release from the Jazz leaves Martin out on the free agency market, is he a player that the Sixers should look at reuniting with for the upcoming season?

What would KJ Martin bring to the Sixers?

While the 24-year-old might not be the flashiest player on the market, he does bring something that Philadelphia could use in the upcoming season: depth on the wing. To be more specific, in the power forward department, given that the only other real choices for Nick Nurse to choose from are the newly acquired Trendon Watford, as well as their second round pick, Johni Broome.

Martin would certainly add more of an NBA-ready style to Nurse's system, given that it's the position in which he spent a significant part of his time last season, with 92 percent of his minutes on the court for the Sixers, according to Cleaning The Glass.

Alternatively, the 24-year-old could shift up to play behind the likes of Paul George and Kelly Oubre Jr on the wing, with the latter of the two reportedly being shopped around by the Sixers.

Revisiting KJ Martin's time with the Sixers

The 24-year-old found himself in the City of Brotherly Love as a part of the deal that shipped James Harden out to the Los Angeles Clippers back in 2023, with the likes of Nicolas Batum, Robert Covington, and Marcus Morris joining Martin on the move over.

KJ Martin goes after a rebound. — Oct 14, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward KJ Martin (1) grabs a rebound past Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) in the second quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Martin would carve out a small pocket of game time under Nurse during his first season with Philadelphia, averaging 3.7 points and 2.2 rebounds across 12.3 minutes per night. These numbers would grow in his second season with the Sixers, with his minutes ballooning to 20 per night.

This would come before the Sixers dealt Martin away at the trade deadline to the Detroit Pistons, where he was subsequently included in a five-team trade that included the aforementioned Jazz, Golden State Warriors, and Toronto Raptors.

Given that there is still some time before the regular season is underway, the possibility of a potential reunion between the two sides is still there.

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