Kevin Martin has been on the trading block for a long time now. The Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard does not have much of a role in his current situation as the team would wisely prefer to play its younger players over him. As a result, the Wolves have attempted to trade the 32 year old veteran.
One of those attempts, according to USA Today Sports’ Sam Amick, involves the Memphis Grizzlies. According to Amick, the Wolves have called the Grizzlies about a potential swap of guards Kevin Martin and Courtney Lee. Lee is on an expiring contract and he could give the Wolves a solid wing option without being a long-term part of the team. The Grizzlies’ guard is also longer so based on his performance, the Wolves could potentially decide to make him a part of the promising core of the team going forward.
The Grizzlies, however, seem to not be interested. Martin has a $7.2 million player option and should he choose to opt into that, his contract would become a challenge for the Grizzlies as they look to re-sign Mike Conley and add help.
That player option will likely be an obstacle for any trade the Wolves attempt to pull off. Martin can be a contributor to many teams, especially those in search of contending for and in the playoffs. However, that contract may be too large for him at this stage of his career. Nevertheless, Amick is reporting that a trade is likely to happen at some point this season. It is only a matter of which team believes the risk of adding long-term money is worth the addition of Martin.
