PHILADELPHIA – Despite current appearances, the Mavericks fully expect to be a force when the playoffs roll around.
And they took a step Tuesday to bolster their postseason swagger.
The Mavericks traded for Caleb Martin, who has been a capable rotation player for the Philadelphia 76ers this season but made his mark as a playoff dynamo in three seasons with the Miami Heat.
In 45 playoff games from 2022-24 for the Heat, he averaged 9.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and shot 40 percent from three-point range. In the 2023 playoffs, he played in all 23 of the Heat’s games on the road to the NBA Finals and averaged 12.7 points and 5.4 rebounds. He shot 42.3 percent from long range.
And he got a seal of approval from Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse on Tuesday.
“I kind of call him a utility guy, but kind of a prime-time guy, incredible in the playoffs,” Nurse said. “You wouldn’t call him a shooter, but then he might just sneak up and kill you in a game or two from the three. Plays really hard. Will defend multiple positions.”
And now, he’s going to be doing all that for the Mavericks after they traded Quentin Grimes and a 2025 second-round pick for Martin on Tuesday. That all parties happened to be in Wells Fargo Center made for a quick exchange.
Jason Kidd detailed the logic behind the deal for the Mavericks while thanking Grimes for his professionalism in his brief stay in Dallas.
“He did everything we asked. He’s a pro,” Kidd said of Grimes. “I talked to him this afternoon. His ability defensively and offensively to help us, we’re going to miss him.
“But you look at Caleb, the versatility. His past teammates have always talked highly of him. His versatility defensively and his experience in the playoffs. We’re really excited to have this opportunity. Hopefully we can cross paths here in the same building, hopefully here soon.”
While not nearly the wavemaker that the trade of Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis was, this is an important move for the Mavericks.
The 6-5 guard was acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers, just hours before tipoff in Philly.
Grimes had been one of the Mavericks’ key arrivals in the offseason when they traded Tim Hardaway Jr. and three second-round picks to get him from Detroit. But obviously, the team values what Martin, who is five years older than the 24-year-old Grimes, can bring to the table.
Martin has missed the last dozen games for Philadelphia with a hip injury. He was listed as questionable on Tuesday before the trade removed him from the Sixers’ injury list.
The rebound begins: The aftershock of the blockbuster still hasn’t fully worn off on the Mavericks, but they are taking steps in the right direction.
On Tuesday, Anthony Davis and Max Christie were at the team breakfast and took part in the morning shootaround at Wells Fargo Center.
“Everybody’s excited when you talk about being able to have Christie and AD physically there this morning for breakfast, to be able to have shootaround, the energy,” Kidd said. “Everyone’s excited and you could see that this morning at breakfast and at shootaround.”
Kidd said he’s also hopeful that these are steps toward eliminating three dreaded words from the Mavericks’ vocabulary: next man up.
“We’ve been hurt or sick and we just haven’t been whole,” he said. “We’ve talked about next man up. Hopefully that phrase can go away here shortly, we can get healthy and move on after the trade deadline.”
Briefly: Kidd on Sixers’ guard Tyrese Maxey, who is having the best season of his career: “He’s on that Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander) path. Each year he gets better. Maxey’s still on that path of bringing something new to the table each year. He’s in that group of young, talented point guards that are getting better each year.” . . . Nurse said it was interesting that the Mavs-Sixers trade happened on a day when they were playing each other. But he remembers stranger times. “It used to happen all the time back in the minor leagues,” he said. “Guys would switch at halftime sometimes.”
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