Cody Martin Set to Make Return
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This past summer, the Hornets made just one move and that was to bring back one of its own, Cody Martin on a four-year, $32 million deal.
Unfortunately for head coach Steve Clifford, his best defensive player has been out of the lineup since the season opener. Martin injured his quad in his first minute on the floor and that's the last we've seen him in uniform.
Somehow, Martin's injury went from a quad to a left knee that required an arthroscopic procedure causing him to be sidelined for roughly six weeks. Tonight, Martin is expected to make his return against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Coach Clifford briefly mentioned how they will get him reacclimated.
“Kind of like what we did with Dennis (Smith Jr.) the other night. Dennis played a little bit more than we expected him to, but the last thing we want is too much. We want him to be able to play here for a couple weeks and get into a rhythm, so we’ll do the same thing with Cody. Lesser minutes per time he’s on the floor. He’s not going to go out and play ten minutes (at a time). …It’s going to take a couple games. Our plan was obviously that Gordon (Hayward) and Kelly (Oubre Jr.) would be here too, but we need to be more balanced, and those two guys are two of our better perimeter defenders to guard primary scorers. It also makes it easier on Terry (Rozier) and Gordon, who have had a lot of responsibility on offense, plus guarding primary scorers. That’s hard to do. That was the plan, and now it’ll be a little bit different. Jalen (McDaniels) will play a little more at the 3. He’s been playing more at the 4. Then we’ll just kind of mix and match here depending on how they feel.”
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