Mavericks’ best perimeter defender may not even crack the rotation after summer moves

The Dallas Mavericks sorely lacked viable perimeter defenders last season, yet their best point-of-attack defender, Caleb Martin, looks to be hard-pressed to even crack the rotation next season, despite this still being a pressing need the Mavericks have yet to address.

Martin is great at anchoring down and guarding point guards, as he's physical and stout, but has the length and lateral quickness to stay with the league's best ball handlers.

The caveat? Martin is best suited to play the three on offense, as his shooting comes and goes depending on the night, and he doesn't have a lot of self-creation chops outside of the occasional attack off a closeout.

Martin will have to fight for minutes despite his elite defense

Of course, Dallas could always opt to play Martin at shooting guard (not his ideal position offensively), but given their current surplus of wings, it's hard to see how he'll even come close to the 14.8 minutes per game he averaged last season. Between Naji Marshall, Cooper Flagg, Zaccharie Risacher, Tarik Biberovic, P.J. Washington, and even Klay Thompson, these are all players best suited to play on the wing or at small forward, which won't make it easy for Martin to get playing time.

Mavericks head coach Dusty May can obviously mix and match a few of those aforementioned names to play at either shooting guard or power forward, which could open up a little bit of time for Martin to get on the floor, but Dallas is ultimately really crowded on the wing.

If Martin can knock down open 3-pointers and be somewhat of a connector on offense with his ability to pass off drive attempts, then he may be able to win out minutes at small forward regardless, but nothing is going to be handed to him based on Dallas' current personnel.

Mavericks should hope for a big season from Martin

His play offensively must mirror what Mavericks fans saw from him over the back half of last season, as the offensive struggles that plagued the start of his Mavericks' tenure can't come back if he wants any minutes in this new rotation.

Dallas could desperately use Martin's ability to lock down opposing guards next season. However, whether he'll be able to stay healthy, whether he'll get enough clock on such a wing-heavy roster, and whether he will be serviceable enough offensively to stay on the court are all factors deterring him from being the player Dallas coveted when they traded Quentin Grimes for him at the 2025 trade deadline.

Martin will turn 31 years old before the start of next season and is set to take home $10 million next season, so he's undoubtedly in a position to take advantage of his current situation in hopes of earning another solid NBA contract before he becomes a free agent in 2028.

He's probably not yielding a lot of trade value at the moment for Dallas either, so it's in everyone's best interest for him to play well and be a disruptor at the point of attack, but lack of opportunity could be a huge detriment to this cause.

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