The New York Knicks have been struggling with their wing depth lately, given recent injuries to both OG Anunoby and Landry Shamet. While head coach Mike Brown has turned to intriguing young options like Mohamed Diawara in their absences, the team may have just played against a perfect trade target on when they took on the Brooklyn Nets: their 6'6" swingman Tyrese Martin.
Why Tyrese Martin should interest the Knicks
The 26-year-old Martin has appeared in 16 of the Nets' 17 games so far, starting two. In 21.1 minutes on average, Martin has averaged 8.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game. The guard is shooting a career-high 40.7% from the floor thus far, not necessarily a conversion rate to write home about, and is making one-third of his 3-point attempts. That's in-line with his career averages from distance.
Martin struggled against the Knicks, making one of four 3-point attempts and none of his four shots from inside the arc. However, going into Monday night, he was heating up. Martin had just scored 26 points on five-of-nine 3-point shooting against the streaking Raptors on Sunday. Before then, he had back-to-back solid games against the Celtics: both of which included him shooting 50% or better from the floor. A 20-point performance against the Wizards on eight-of-12 shooting preceded those.
In the four games going into the Nets' second against New York this season, Martin was averaging 16 points per game in just 22 minutes. That included a 74% true-shooting percentage, the highest on the team in that stretch. His seven-rebound, five-assist performance against the Knicks was mired by his shooting struggles but also proved that he can contribute when his shot isn't falling.
He was a +2 in his minutes, the fourth-highest on the team in the 13-point loss. He's been one of the steadier pieces on a struggling Brooklyn team, now 3-14 after falling to the Knicks again.
Would it make sense for New York to target Martin?
Martin is making just under $2.2 million this season, according to Spotrac. The Knicks and Nets would need to both willing to do business with each other, again, following the two teams breaking a decades-long unofficial embargo with the Mikal Bridges trade last offseason. However, if both sides were ready to get down to business, Martin's relatively small salary makes this interesting.
The Knicks were reportedly willing to trade either Tyler Kolek or Pacôme Dadiet for draft capital before the season to free up the roster spots needed to carry both Malcolm Brogdon and Landry Shamet into the regular season. If the rebuilding Nets were willing to attach a second-round pick to Martin, would they have interest in having a 'dart throw' like Dadiet in the wings?
New York shouldn't come close to breaking the bank for Martin, who would come with clear limitations. However, the injuries to Anunoby and Shamet leaving them struggling to fill out a full rotation's worth of 3-point shooters make trying to get the most out of someone like Martin an intriguing-enough proposition to merit consideration. Especially if the team could replenish some draft capital as a reward for giving up a young prospect, signed for several years to a team-friendly rate, with potential, both teams should think about it.