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PHILADELPHIA — Despite being labeled as “certainly one of our top five players, without a doubt” by Nick Nurse, Caleb Martin came off the bench in his Philadelphia 76ers debut. He played the second-most minutes on the team behind Tyrese Maxey and put together a solid performance.
It was surprising to see Martin come off the bench in a game where Paul George (and Joel Embiid) did not play. It gives the impression that, right now, his role as the sixth man is cemented. He tallied 12 points, nine rebounds and three assists on 5-10 shooting in the Sixers' season-opening loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, 124-109.
“There's things that happened through the gaps I feel that we went over that we didn't execute as well as we should have and that we can. I know we're capable of [it],” he said after the game. “I think that's part of the first game. That's part of not overreacting with a lot of new faces on the team and understanding that a lot of guys have a lot of experience on this side and understanding it's early. We don't need to overreact. We just need to continue to get together and go through that type of stuff and clean some stuff up. I think we'll be good.”
Nurse turned to Martin to provide a spark on offense in the second half, swapping him with KJ Martin in the starting group. Caleb played off the bench for most of his tenure with the Miami Heat, though he was seemingly penciled in as a starter when he signed with the 76ers. He's used to playing a variety of roles and prides himself on being someone that coaches can deploy in various ways.
Caleb Martin was told at halftime that he’d start the 2nd half.
“I try to pride myself on being ready for any situation. I feel like that’s part of my role.” pic.twitter.com/9PMLb3vGTA
— Sam DiGiovanni (@BySamDiGiovanni) October 24, 2024
“I try to pride myself on being ready for any situation,” he said. “I feel like that's part of my role. It's gonna fluctuate and it's gonna change all the time and I just gotta be ready for stuff like that to happen. But I'm okay with that. I think everybody has to be ready for coach to throw some stuff on the fly if things aren't working, he doesn't like what things are looking like.”
Caleb Martin plays well in 76ers debut
Tyrese Maxey praised Martin's intensity and trash-talking. Nick Nurse liked what he saw defensively and in the rebounding department.
“I thought we offensive rebounded pretty good,” Nurse said, praising Martin's efforts. That goal was aided heavily by the Sixers' inefficient shooting but they certainly crashed the glass with intensity. Martin tallied four OREBs, second on the team behind Andre Drummond's five. That’s a skill that Martin said he has “a knack for at times” and is something he and other wings like Kelly Oubre Jr. and Ricky Council IV are encouraged to tap into.
“I think he's trying to find his way a little bit,” Nurse said. “I thought he made some good decisions. He plays hard, man. He was fighting, he was guarding every guy. We tried to throw him on Giannis [Antetokounmpo], we threw him on Dame [Lillard], we threw him on [Bobby] Portis. He was trying to guard everybody, so that's good.”
Although Caleb Martin playing a lot of minutes negates the concern around him coming off the bench, it should still behoove the Sixers to play someone so versatile, smart and aggressive in the starting unit. Even when all the stars are active, he's the type of role player that elevates a team. Fortunately, his status as a starter or reserve doesn't seem to impact his minutes — or his mindset.
