The Minnesota Timberwolves have given up on Kevin Martin, yet the awful contract they gave him in 2013 is impossible to offload today, and a buyout with him after the trade deadline might be the only way for both sides to be torn apart.
Martin signed a $27.8 million, four-year contract in 2013, which might not be so terrible considering the new cap space once the 2016-2017 season begins. However, for a player who doesn’t do anything but shoot the ball and offers no upside, being on the wrong side of 32, he seems to have 0 fit right now with the team, averaging 11.6 points per game in 24.3 minutes, but getting less than 19 minutes in the last five games he’s played, while the Timberwolves drift further and further away from a playoff spot.
The ideal situation is trading Martin for someone who can help the team right away. There’s been talk about a Martin for Courtney Lee trade and although that might give the Memphis Grizzlies a slight offensive upgrade, they’re not interested in getting someone who is a rental at best with a deal that goes through the 2016-2017 season, holding a player option worth $7.4 million for the final year of his contract.
So for now, the Timberwolves are stuck with Martin, who has averaged 17.8 points per game since joining the Timberwolves in 2013, but missed more than half the season in 2014-2015 and has rarely brought anything to the Timberwolves besides his scoring, which doesn’t always cancel his defensive mistakes and his love for the ball, which means not sharing it with anyone else on the floor.
Generally the Timberwolves have been in freefall. They are 12-25 following a five game losing streak and winning just once in their last 10 games. Andrew Wiggins might be averaging 20.6 points per game, but like most of his teammates, he has been on a sharp decline since the beginning of the season, and the Timberwolves are often better when he isn’t playing, which is worrying considering he is the future of this franchise.
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