NBA Rumor: Mavs Have Trade Interest in Rockets' KJ Martin
With the NBA Finals past us, the offseason is now here, and the Dallas Mavericks have already found themselves in a number of free agency and trade rumors, including Kyrie Irving's likelihood to re-sign and the prospect of trading for Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.
On Tuesday, The Athletic's Kelly Iko joined The HoopsHype Podcast with Michael Scotto to discuss the Rockets offseason, which included the Mavs potentially having interest in a certain Houston forward.
"There are a few teams that have kept interest in him, like Dallas, the Clippers, and Phoenix, that still like KJ Martin," Iko said.
Martin has shown flashes of serious intrigue through his first three years in the league. This season, Martin averaged a career-high 12.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists while shooting 56.9 percent from the field in 28 minutes per game.
Reported by Inside The Rockets in March, Martin's progression this season is 'likely' to lead to an extension later this summer after he previously requested a trade prior to the 2022-23 season in hopes to find a bigger role elsewhere.
For Dallas, potentially acquiring Martin would add another much-needed versatile forward to their rotation. Martin would become a lethal lob threat playing alongside Luka Doncic along with his willingness to cut to the basket and stretch out from 3-point range. Defensively, Martin is an average on-ball defender, who can guard multiple positions, but his athleticism gives him the ability to be a sneaky good off-ball rim protector.
Overall, the Rockets have quite the interesting roster situation with an abundance of young talent to sort through over the next handful of years. Most of those guys will be seeking big paydays at some point, and with Houston holding the No. 4 overall pick in next week's NBA draft, the Rockets could look to shake up their roster. If it happens, Dallas could take advantage.
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