Why Caleb Martin is the Miami Heat's best option to start at power forward

Martin isn't an ideal starter next to Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, but he may be Miami's best option for now.

For a while this summer, Caleb Martin didn't know if he'd be back with the Miami Heat. Instead, Martin has a chance to earn a spot in the starting lineup when training camp begins next week.

Despite spending his career on the perimeter, Martin’s combination of energy, defensive acumen and offensive upside makes him the early favorite to start alongside Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo in the front court this upcoming season. It may seem desperate to play Martin out of position, but the Heat were dangerously close to having zero experienced options at power forward.

Zip back to July 6, the official opening day of free agency. The league’s moratorium had started a week earlier, on June 30, but it’s no secret that players, agents and teams had been talking for weeks. Still, Martin had little-to-no contact with the Heat and didn’t know if an offer would come. 

The Heat knew starting power forward P.J. Tucker was on his way to Philadelphia and were preparing for a run at Kevin Durant or Donovan Mitchell. And while the Heat managed to re-sign Victor Oladipo and Dewayne Dedmon by utilizing their Bird rights, Martin had played just one season in Miami and had to be re-signed as a restricted free agent. With Martin, the Heat took a wait-and-see approach.

Martin received interest from more than a dozen other teams, according to a league source, and when it became clear a Western Conference team was prepared to sign the 26-year-old forward to a substantial offer sheet, the Heat realized they couldn’t let Martin get away. The Heat finalized a three-year, $20.4 million deal – less than what Martin would have been offered from the Western Conference team, but enough to commit to remaining with the Heat.

There’s an opportunity in Miami. With Tucker gone, Martin is the best option to be the Heat’s fifth starter when the season begins. He’ll have to win the job in the next week’s Bahamas-based camp, but Martin makes more sense than others such as Max Strus, Duncan Robinson, Dewayne Dedmon or Haywood Highsmith.

Though Martin is listed at just 6-5, 205 pounds (undersized for a power forward even in today’s smallish NBA), Miami should be comfortable based on what Martin did last season that he can handle the assignment.

As Tucker’s primary backup, Martin played 1,430 possessions at power forward, according to Cleaning the Glass. The Heat outscored opponents by 3.9 points per 100 possessions in those minutes.

Offensively, the Heat should be fine going from Tucker to Martin. Tucker is a steady corner 3-point shooter and cinder-block screener, but Martin offers more off-the-dribble verve and variety with his shot. The offense will look different. Adebayo, who took a step back as a screener last season with Tucker in the mix, will crank up the volume of pick-and-rolls, dribble handoffs and screens.

Meanwhile, from Jae Crowder to Tucker, Miami’s power forwards have been asked to space the floor from the corner. Tucker last season attempted 172 corner 3s, ninth-most in the NBA. During Miami’s 2019-20 run to the Finals, Crowder took 82 corner 3s in 41 games between the regular season and playoffs – two per game.

Martin attempted just 30 corner 3s all of last season, but he made them at a 40% clip (and shot 41.3% from deep overall). He’s capable of hitting that shot, and will be asked to do so more often. He’s better at attacking closeouts than both Tucker and Crowder, and can finish above the rim. The trick for Erik Spoelstra will be not limiting Martin to standing in the corner.

The biggest adjustment will come defensively. Though Tucker, like Martin, is also 6-5, he is much stronger and heavier at 245 pounds. In a conference that features power forwards such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Al Horford, Pascal Siakam, John Collins and Evan Mobley, Martin will have his work cut out for him. 

Martin has spent the offseason traveling between Charlotte and Miami, honing his skills and building muscle. But, as he told reporters at Las Vegas Summer League, Miami’s defense is built to keep the ball on the perimeter and deny entry passes into the post.

“The way we play, we don’t even let guys that are bigger than you touch the ball,” Martin said in July.

But those big guys will eventually get the ball and, when they do, Martin will need to be able to hold his own. There’s evidence that he can. Last season, according to Synergy, Martin ranked in the 94th percentile as a post defender and in the 81st percentile when guarding the roll man in a pick-and-roll. Elite numbers, albeit in a small sample (39 total possessions).

Watch the film and Martin displays unique strength for his size. Against the Celtics in the conference finals, Martin’s top four defensive assignments were Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Grant Williams and Horford. Two guards and two bigs. Here, Martin bodies up Horford and forces him into a tough hook shot.

Two more examples. Watch Martin deny Siakam space and force a tough turn-around foul-line jumper.

Then against the Cavaliers, Martin stands up to Mobley and uses all 6-foot-10 of his wingspan to contest his shot.

Martin does a good job of positioning himself between the player and the basket and using lower-body strength and leverage to cut off penetration. If he can keep holding his own against bigger bodies, he’ll be able to switch across four positions. 

Where Martin won’t be able to replace Tucker is switching onto centers. Against the 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Miami had Tucker switch onto Joel Embiid, freeing Adebayo to defend in more space and disrupt Embiid with double teams in the paint. Like Martin, Tucker is 6-5 but, unlike Martin, Tucker is nearly as wide as he is tall. Tucker, because of his size, strength and chutzpah, is a five-position defender. Martin is a capable four-position defender. This will leave Adebayo defending centers more often, although a point can be made that a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate should be able to handle guarding his position full-time.

The other thing confronting Martin, especially if he starts, will be expectations. Last season, Martin was a feel-good story who influenced games with his energy off the bench. His contributions were important but unexpected. 

Now Martin is a known quantity. As a core rotation piece, he’ll be expected to make a two-way impact more consistently. For as fun as his 28-point outing against the Bucks in December was, or his 22-point game in Brooklyn in March was, Martin also scored five or fewer points in 20 games. As a starter, that won’t do.

Then there’s the contract. The Heat signed Martin using a portion of the mid-level exception, an allotment they could have used to sign outside help. If he struggles, fans will point to players the Heat could have had instead.

Early struggles should be expected. Martin isn’t an ideal starting power forward and, as one scout told the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, Butler is a better option at the four.

“I would rather have Butler at the four, and bring Caleb off the bench,” the scout said. “I like Caleb. Excellent DNA. His shooting came around last year. He’s a hustler, a Heat guy. He can defend, has some defensive versatility.

“Caleb Martin could be a starting four but does that lead to a championship? Is this a guy you’re going to play into May with as your starting four? Is he getting overmatched when it really counts?”

Fair point, but if not Martin, then who? Start Butler at the four and play three-guard lineups? The Heat are already small as it is. Go big with Dedmon and Adebayo? As much as I’m intrigued by that combination, Spoelstra has been reluctant to play Adebayo with another big. Haywood Highsmith and Nikola Jovic are too inexperienced.

The Heat could always call again about Phoenix’s Jae Crowder, Atlanta’s John Collins, Utah’s Bojan Bogdanovic or Indiana’s Myles Turner. But to get any of them would mean parting with a first-round pick, and the Heat are still hoping to use their picks to acquire a star. That could change as the trade deadline gets closer.

For now, Martin appears to be the best stop-gap. Spoelstra trusted him with big minutes and in big moments, and the organization made him an offseason priority. Not only did Martin bet on himself, but the Heat are betting on him, too.