While the Miami Heat have a lot of storylines surrounding them this offseason, one of the more interesting situations surrounds star Caleb Martin. The spark plug for the Heat could have played his last game with the franchise as according to a report from Mike A. Scotto of HoopsHype.
Martin is set to become an un restricted free agent on July 1 where otherwise, he does have a choice to stay with Miami on a $7.1 million player option. However, Scotto reports that Martin “is expected” to decline the aforementioned player option and look to get a sizable contract in free agency.
“Miami Heat swingman Caleb Martin is expected to decline his $7.13 million player option and enter unrestricted free agency for a bigger payday this summer, league sources told HoopsHype,” Alcotto wrote. “Martin has shot 37 percent during his three seasons with the Heat, and should he depart in free agency, Miami will have to replace his floor spacing.”
Fans of the franchise might experience deja vu when hearing this report as there have been other players on the Heat that were undrafted, formed into a contributing player, and received a big contract like Gabe Vincent and Max Strus last offseason. The same could very well happen for Martin as he should no doubt get interest from other teams as he averaged 10 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 43.1 percent from the field.
Martin has said in the past he would want to stay with Heat
Martin always seemed likely to leave as besides the Heat looking to bolster their roster possibly with another star and even potentially give their featured players extensions, they have another player they can re-sign in Haywood Highsmith. It seemed as if the team has to decide between the two with Highsmith being more likely since he will most likely be cheaper, but there is no doubt that in a perfect world, Martin would have stayed as he loves the organization per his end of season press conference.
“Everybody knows I want to be here. I make that known,” Martin said. “That’s my goal is to be able to stay here, make it work. I want to be here as long as possible and for them to want me to come back. That’s my main goal.”
Martin preparing for the summer
The 28-year old is sure to bring any team energetic defense plus a solid shooter in every aspect that has been a part of high-level basketball with the Heat as he made his mark in the 2023 NBA Finals run. He would say to ClutchPoints that because Miami lost in the first round of the NBA Playoffs to the Boston Celtics, he is not used to being “done early.”
“Obviously since I've been here, this is the first time we've been done early,” Martin said to ClutchPoints. “So everybody wants to work until you get it, but you don't really realize the sacrifice you take when getting more time off and that means you're in early and not playing as long as you want to. I just think you take that and it hits everybody a little bit different. But I think if I approach the summer and approach next year in a way to where they want to get you to keep playing. It starts in the summer and it starts all throughout the regular season to put ourselves in a position to be able to find a way to play later so I think that'll be the approach all of us have moving forward.”
Martin not the only Heat player set to receive a bigger payday
Besides Martin's contract situation, another tidbit Scotto mentioned is that Heat star Bam Adebayo “is expected to have extension discussions with All-Star and All-Defensive First Team center Bam Adebayo this summer, league sources told HoopsHype.” This has been known in the past where Adebayo is eligible for an extension worth $165 million lasting three years as it was reported by The Miami Herald's Anthony Chiang that he is expected to “receive a lucrative extension.”
“As a foundational piece for the Heat who is still a few years away from turning 30, the expectation is that Adebayo will receive a lucrative extension from the organization this offseason to keep him in Miami for years to come,” Chiang wrote.
Still questions surrounding Jimmy Butler
While it seems like a given that Adebayo gets an extension this summer, Jimmy Butler's situation is way more different as he is looking for a two-year extension worth $113 million. Heat President Pat Riley was non-committal in saying he will oblige and give Butler what he wants.
“Well, you know, we don't have to do that for a year and so we have not discussed that internally right now but we have to look at that and then making that kind of commitment,” Riley said.
“Well, I mean, if you request we can either accept or we can say we're going to think about it,” Riley said. “We've not made a decision on it and I think you can make too much out of this. You still got two years left on the contract. Theoretically he's got a player option. But that's something that we have to give some real thought to based on a lot of factors. I don't want to go through the litany of factors right now because they all go up into different hypotheticals, but yeah, that's a big decision on our part to commit those kinds of resources unless your somebody who's really going to be there and available every single night, that's the truth.”
It is safe to say that the Heat have a lot of work to do this offseason and before the contract situations with Martin, Adebayo, and Butler even settle, they look to prepare for the draft starting Wednesday and continuing Thursday. Miami looks to improve after finishing at the eighth seed for the second straight season and being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
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