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Summary
I don't expect Martin to be waived, and expect him to be on the Hornets in the '21-'22 season. Although Martin showed some promise in his rookie season, he missed some games this season and his minutes went from 18.4 per game to 14.9 per game. That's one of the difficult things about evaluating role players on bad teams. As the team gets better or that player moves to a better team, it becomes a question if that player can stay on the court.
 
Martin suffers from being good at a lot of things but not great at any one thing. He plays hard and tends to make the right play the vast majority of the time, but he's a poor shooter from outside and certainly isn't a playmaker or shot creator. He's a solid defender and generally knows where to be, but doesn't have the size, athleticism, or elite defensive instincts to really thrive as a defender.
 
Martin is also already 25 years old, so there's a lack of upside that is somewhat concerning. Martin's best chance at proving that he's more than "just a guy" would be to improve his outside shooting, as doing so makes him more likely to contribute in lineups where he is the fifth option on offense.
 
Cap Considerations
Martin's $1.8 million salary for 2021-2022 is non-guaranteed, and if he is waived he will become an unrestricted free agent and the Hornets will have no form of Bird rights on him. If he is waived, teams could claim him off waivers, but would need to fit his salary within cap space or an exception to do so, as his contract doesn't fit within the minimum salary exception as it was a three-year contract.
 
If Martin becomes a free agent, other teams will have multiple ways to sign him as even teams without cap space could possibly use either of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Taxpayer MLE, or possibly even the Room MLE to sign him. I should also say that in the unlikely scenario Martin is waived and clears waivers, his value will have dropped low enough that he would only have offers for the minimum.

Potential Teams: Hornets, Nets, Celtics, 76ers, Clippers, Pelicans

Predicted Contract: Not waived: $1.8 million
If waived: 1-year, $1.7 million with the Pelicans

Actual Contract: Not waived: $1.8 million
Martin had his contract guaranteed, so he did not end up hitting free agency this summer.

Last updated: 8/19/2021

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