One front office official who works for a rival NBA team said that Miami Heat wing Caleb Martin could fetch nearly $13 million per year in free agency this coming offseason.
“He’s got midlevel value,” the official told the Miami Herald. “He can defend, he’s a winning player. He’s a solid rotation guy on a good team.”
For reference, the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception is projected to be worth $12.8 million.
After a forgettable performance in Game 1 of Miami’s playoff series against the Boston Celtics — he scored just four points on 2-of-6 shooting from the field — Martin looked more like the player who torched the Celtics in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals in Wednesday’s Game 2.
In just over 36 minutes of playing time, the 28-year-old totaled 21 points while shooting 7-of-12 from the floor and converting all but one of his six 3-point attempts.
So far in Martin’s playoff career, he has shot 48.6 percent from deep against the Celtics while shooting just 32.5 percent from 3-point range against every other team.
Martin’s hot shooting helped the Heat set a new franchise playoff record in 3-pointers made. Miami knocked down 23 of them in their 10-point victory over the Celtics in Game 2 and shot 53.5 percent from deep.
The Heat now own home-court advantage in this series as it shifts to Kaseya Center for the next two games.
While Miami should feel good about splitting the first two games of the first-round series in Boston, the Heat can’t afford to take their foot off the gas at home. After all, the Celtics were one of the best roads in the NBA during the regular season, as they won 27 games away from home, the second-most of any team in the league.
Also, Boston has a history of beating the Heat in Miami in the playoffs over the last couple of years. The Celtics won Game 7 of the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals on the road and picked up another win in Miami in Game 6 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals.
If Martin’s two-way play contributes to the Heat knocking the Celtics out in the first round, he would prove definitively that he’s worth every bit of a contract that pays him $12.8 million per year.