Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
2025 Free Agents - Cody Martin
When healthy, Martin has shown he can be a reliable depth piece in a league where you can never have too many wings. He had a career year in '21-'22, playing over 25 minutes per game on a Hornets team that won 43 games and made the play-in. He has struggled staying healthy since then, playing in just 7 games in '22-'23 and 28 games in '23-'24. Martin suffers from being good at a lot of things but not great at any one thing. He plays hard and tends to make the right play the vast majority of the time, but he's a poor shooter from outside and certainly isn't a playmaker or shot creator. He hit 39% from three in '21-'22, but is only a career 33% shooter from three, so that year might have been an outlier. If he can get back to that level of shooting, or anywhere close to it, that would be huge for him. Martin is a solid defender and generally knows where to be, but doesn't have the size, athleticism, or elite defensive instincts to really thrive as a defender. However, he has proven he can be solid enough on that end, particularly against second units, that if his hot offensive shooting can continue, he'll be able to get consistent minutes. He also has good steal and block rates and rebounds well for a wing on both ends of the court. Martin is also already 29 years old, which along with his health issues could cause some concerns about regression in the coming year. Martin's best chance at proving that he's more than "just a guy" would be to improve his outside shooting, as doing so makes him more likely to contribute in lineups where he is the fifth option on offense.
Summary
Martin's $8.7 million salary for 2025-2026 is non-guaranteed, and if he is waived he will become an unrestricted free agent and the Hornets will have no form of Bird rights on him. If he is waived, teams could claim him off waivers, but would need to fit his salary within cap space or an exception to do so. If Martin becomes a free agent, other teams will have multiple ways to sign him as even teams without cap space could use any of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE, or possibly even the Taxpayer MLE or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. If Martin is waived and clears waivers, his value may have dropped low enough that he would only have offers for the minimum.
Cap Considerations
Kenrich Williams (4-1 years, $27 million, 2022) Caleb Martin (3+1 years, $35 million, 2024) Kyle Anderson (3 years, $27 million, 2024)