Despite the little playing time he has had (12 minutes on average in his 58 appearances) since his arrival at the Sixers, KJ Martin decided to return to Philadelphia anyway.
However, Kenyon Martin's son had his best career season with the Rockets in the 2022/23 season, with 12.7 points and 5.5 rebounds. With his transfers to the Clippers, then to the Sixers, the winger saw his performances decline (3.7 points and 2.2 rebounds). But here he is back with the desire to do better.
“There was a place in the squad,” he explains. “So it was definitely a possibility. My agent spoke to the management and they complimented me. That was a big part of it, and watching the dominoes fall, I felt like it was the right situation, with Paul George coming in and the fact that they really didn't have a lot of No. 4s.”
Philadelphia, however, does not lack players on the wings with the extension of Kelly Oubre Jr and the arrivals of Caleb Martin, Paul George and Eric Gordon. Minutes will be expensive in this rotation…
“I'm obviously going to do what I can to try to be a starter.”he says. “But otherwise, I'm going to come off the bench and try to do what I can to be the best sixth man of the year.”
Settle in at position 4?
By returning to the Sixers, KJ Martin is in it for the long term, alongside Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr., but he will also be reunited with Paul George, whom he met during his time with the Clippers.
“My goal this year is to play at a high level”adds the winger. “Obviously I played with Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid last year, and PG I played with in L.A. as well, so I really feed off those guys. Now it's going to be tough for opponents to defend them.”
The risk with such a contract is that he could be traded during the season if he doesn't perform well on the field. Or if he simply isn't used. But KJ Martin already sees himself taking minutes as a power forward.
“When you look at those guys and what we're going to need at power forward, obviously it's not a guy that looks like Tyrese, Joel or PG. They're going to have the ball most of the time,” he concludes. “So now we’re going to need guys that can kind of play off the ball, do little things. Obviously, I can play power forward, I can play the dunker spot, I can be a screener in certain situations, so it seems like a good fit. It seems like the right situation.”
