Caleb Martin’s Simple Game Blending into a Simplified Role

When Caleb Martin spoke after the season in his exit interview, he seemed to have two statements that stood out among the rest. The first was that he wanted to be back in Miami, which ended up coming true after he signed a multi-year contract to return to the Heat.

The second comment that stood out regarded his role. When I asked him about certain tweaks in his game moving forward, he brought up the role of guys like PJ Tucker and Draymond Green. Two guys who are guarded by bigger guys and size up, yet focus on being a “tweener” who can screen, roll, and play-make.

With him saying that on May 31st prior to the start of the off-season, Caleb Martin now finds himself in that exact position. After Tucker signed with Philly and the Heat yet to replace that starting 4 position, it’s created many conversations in this space on what’s next for Miami positionally.

Could Martin be that 4? Will Jimmy Butler bump up a position slot? Could they go big?

Those are all debatable questions that will alter depending on who is answering, but that’s not what I’m focusing on right now.

When you hear the name Martin at this time of year, many Heat fans minds immediately shoot to the hole at the 4. But how about we discuss the valued role he’s going to play instead of the starter vs bench conversation?

From the team’s perspective last year, they wanted him to focus on being Jimmy-lite in a way. He was the back-up 3, yet if Butler was out on a specific night, they handed him a bigger chunk of the load offensively to see how he would handle it.

But now that the guard room got deeper and the big man room shrunk, it leads us back to those comments I provided earlier. Instead of eyeing the Butler’s of the world, he’s going to be eyeing the role that Tucker just played this past year. Once again, that’ll be the case whether he’s a high level reserve or the starting four.

The point to make on that topic is they won’t provide a ceiling to that role. The current goal is to utilize full-on expansion heading into camp, starting with the spots they place him as a creator off the roll.

One of the things that made Tucker so great in his offensive load last year was he found his niche. Hand-off, roll, floater. After not being the greatest finisher for some time, that two foot plant and one hand push shot became a staple to keep defenses honest inside the lane.

The reason I bring this up is while Martin’s reading this blueprint, he won’t be copy and pasting by any means.

Martin’s athleticism and quick first step shouldn’t be taken lightly. He’s not the slow paced floater type of guy that a Tucker or Draymond Green might be.

Instead, as shown in the clip above, he can mix in some blow-bys against slower defenders to get to those cross-body shots that he loves to use around the basket.

But still, that type of scoring stuff isn’t the “expansion” I’m discussing. It’s actually a totally different dimension.

The Heat are going to be leaning into an even heavier motion offense this season in my personal opinion, meaning a Martin type fits that mold perfectly. While Martin is usually the open guy on the floor to make defenses pay after mishaps, he’s going to be more of the disruptor himself this season.

How is that? Well, his play-making off the roll will be watched very closely.

Like I said, Tucker was a lot of things for that Heat team last year, but I will say this wasn’t one of them. A guy with a bit more length and athletisism to keep both the ball and the defense moving will tie the bow on a lot of Miami’s movement sets.

Since they’re going to lack pure size on the roster, they will have to lean heavily into speed, and this is exactly how it’s done. You may be thinking that’s a lot on Martin’s plate to improve on as a play-maker, but they layed out the role for him a few months back. I believe he can add that dimension from what we’ve seen so far.

On the flip side of what he can add, let’s also just address what he is at this current moment. To say it simply, he’s a baseline roamer. A true corner threat who likes to operate sideline to sideline so he can maximize spacing for certain guards on the roster.

He’s a player that plays in his role and doesn’t stray off, which Miami loves.

If you want a stat that proves that statement to its core, I’ve got just that: according to NBA.com, Caleb Martin took 155 triples this past season, and 148 of them were open.

They classify “open” as the closest defender being 4 feet or beyond from him, but it still makes sense when thinking back on it. He’s the guy you’re going to help off of, but it should also be said that he made them pay for that pretty often.

Martin shot 41% from beyond the arc this past season, and even shot 43% on three-point pull-ups. He just takes what he is given, and potentially in a lineup with Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, and Kyle Lowry to start the year, that’s a pretty good description to have.

Looking at the clips above, it should also be noted that he’s a very solid off-ball mover at this point in time. With his defender usually being the drifter, he has many opportunities for easy buckets after they fall asleep on the back-side.

Yet again, that’s another thing to be expanded upon in their movement sets.

After diving into what Martin is now and the realistic version of what he can become, let’s utilize this last part to address best case scenario. As I said before, he’s a role player who doesn’t stray out of that exact role. But what if they allow him to at times?

When you have pure athletes on the roster, the goal is to place them in spots to set up that inital burst. One of those places is transition, which they’ve totally allowed him to be free with. But the next step will be if he can do it in tighter spaces of the half-court.

As seen in the clip above, we’ve seen slight glimpses of flashy moves and speedy drives to the basket from either wing, but could there be consistency coming with it?

There’s been consistency with the finishing product of those moves actually, since he’s been super solid around the rim in general. Martin shot a little over 60% less than 10 feet from the basket this past year, which was actually on decent volume.

Yes most of those attempts aren’t the type of drives I just showed in that clip, but that’s something that could make him much more dangerous.

He’s already “dangerous” on one side of the floor, in a way that makes me think I don’t need to bring it up. He screams versatility with the way he can provide pressure baseline to baseline, showed to be one of their better on-ball defenders this season, and now will have that all put to the test over more minutes this upcoming year.

The only true question mark on that side of the floor for him will be about sizing up. Miami’s going to switch everything anyway, but Martin won’t be able to handle a switch onto a 5 just as Tucker did for this group. Adjustments will be made on that front from a team perspective, but the point is they have a lot of confidence in him in many areas.

Caleb Martin has a very simple game. But now they’re handing him a pretty simple role. “Versatility is huge in the playoffs,” Martin said when I asked him about his role after the season. And well, this would be a way for him to branch into that come playoff time.

For business window graphics, interior office signage, custom flags, custom banners and sign repair, reach out to SignsBrowardFortLauderdale