Mavericks' season undoubtedly hinges on terrifying Caleb Martin factor

In the 2024-25 NBA season, the Dallas Mavericks made a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers to acquire Caleb Martin in exchange for Quentin Grimes. The Mavericks were Martin's fourth NBA team in his six-year NBA career, and Nico Harrison had all the belief in the world that he could become the Mavs' defensive stopper.

Martin had some solid stretches with the 76ers last season before being traded, but saw struggles as a Maverick and couldn't stay healthy. At times, Martin even became unplayable under head coach Jason Kidd.

With a poor season in Dallas after being traded, the Mavericks had a chance to dump Martin during the offseason. Instead, the Mavericks chose to keep him. A full season in Dallas is ahead for Martin for 2025-26 to show what he can contribute to the team. Despite struggles, there could be a reason for Martin to get playing time in Kidd's loaded rotation, but he needs to improve in one area to get playing time.

Caleb Martin's jump shot must improve to get minutes off the bench

This offseason, Martin needed to improve on his jump shot.

Badly.

If Martin is able to shoot better from downtown next season, it can lead him to get more minutes due to his defensive abilities. He is already the best perimeter defender on the team, but he'll become a vital piece of the rotation if he can start knocking down threes at a high clip.

If Martin starts shooting the ball at a consistent level, it can lead him to get more minutes per game from Kidd. With more minutes, it can allow Martin to showcase his defense and show Mavs fans why Harrison wanted him so badly. He can easily become one of the team's best 3-and-D wings, and it will all rely upon his shooting.

Last season with the Mavericks, Martin had a solid 112.9 defensive rating, which was much better than what we saw from his time as a Sixer.

Martin is arguably the best point-of-attack defender on the Mavericks roster. Martin has the ability to create steals, have off-ball awareness, and defend different positions thanks to his physicality and grit. Martin averaged just under one steal per game for Dallas after being traded. Despite consistently displaying strong defense, Martin needs to fix his jump shot to create more offense.

There's no denying that Martin's offensive game last season as a Maverick after the trade was rough. In 14 games with Dallas, Martin shot 39 percent overall from the field and 25 percent from three. Both categories were down from his time as a Sixer last season, and the usual hitch in his jumper looked much more severe.

With low shooting percentages last season, Martin's points per game were low from Philadelphia to Dallas. Martin went from averaging 9.1 points per game as a Sixer to averaging 5.4 as a Maverick. Martin has shown he can be a solid shooter with shooting 45 percent overall from the field and 36 percent from three in his career, but his lack of confidence as a Maverick quietly plummeted his season.

Acquiring Martin from Philadelphia looked awful when Grimes took off with averaging 21.9 points per game as a Sixer, to when Martin averaged under 5.5 per game. However, if Martin fixes his jump shot to go along with his strong defense, it can help the Mavericks big on both sides of the ball as they badly need as much production as they can get while Kyrie Irving is injured.

Every NBA fan knows that Martin can lock down elite wings thanks to his defense, and he'll be on a mission to prove that he can return to being a knockdown 3-point shooter.