He confirmed it in faculty, as he’s one among simply 4 gamers to steer two completely different faculty applications to the Last 4 of the NCAA match, doing it in 2023 with upstart Florida Atlantic College and once more in 2025 with the College of Florida.
However Martin is the one participant in NCAA historical past to try this whereas additionally being a starter on a nationwide championship crew, as he was with the Gators in April.
The 23-year-old hasn’t wasted any time bringing his profitable methods to the skilled stage. The thirty ninth decide within the draft in June has offered some glorious minutes off the bench for the Toronto Raptors within the Las Vegas Summer time League.
Martin had 13 factors and 7 rebounds off the bench within the Raptors’ win over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday evening and now shall be a part of one other “ultimate 4” — this time with the 4-0 child Raptors, who advance to the Summer time League semifinals as the highest seed.
Raptors Summer time League on Sportsnet
The Toronto Raptors look to remain undefeated in Summer time League motion as they tackle the Golden State Warriors on July 17. Watch the matchup on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.
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A win over the Sacramento Kings within the semifinals Saturday will land the Raptors within the championship sport Sunday evening.
A Summer time League championship means nothing within the grand scheme, however the Raptors said it as a purpose after they started coaching for the competitors, viewing it as a tradition builder for a younger crew that’s making an attempt to raise itself after seasons of 25 and 30 wins, respectively, within the Japanese Convention.
As a gaggle, they’re enjoying astonishingly onerous and have leveraged the lenient Summer time League guidelines — gamers are allowed 10 private fouls per sport earlier than being disqualified — to unleash a tireless, handsy and bodily model of full-court strain.
Toronto’s Summer time League stylings haven’t at all times been fairly — the Raptors are taking pictures simply 42.8 per cent from the ground and 33 per cent from three — however it has been brutally efficient, with Raptors opponents being hounded into 29 turnovers a sport, which Toronto has translated into almost 34 factors, or greater than a 3rd over its total offensive output.
It virtually goes with out saying that Martin has match proper in. He’s an A-plus athlete who glides across the ground fluidly till it’s time to blow up from it, as he did together with his dunk in visitors within the Raptors Summer time League opener in opposition to the Chicago Bulls.
And if he doesn’t profile as a basic NBA wing whereas standing at simply six-foot-one-and-a-half barefoot, his almost six-foot-eight wingspan and 38-inch vertical leap assist fill some gaps, together with a degree of competitiveness that’s onerous to overlook.
“I am fairly acutely aware of (my athletic skill) simply because I’ve been doing this a very long time,” Martin mentioned, once I spoke with him in Las Vegas final week. “And I like to make use of it extra like on the defensive finish, going out and making blocks and stuff like that. It’s important to perceive the actions of the sport and stuff like that, however I’m fairly acutely aware of my benefit. And I undoubtedly play larger than my dimension, and that comes with being athletic, being lengthy and being assured. Should you’re a small man and also you play small, you set your self in a field, and I by no means wish to put myself in a field.”
Martin’s problem could be breaking out of the field that’s the Raptors’ depth on the wing place. Vying for rotation minutes within the second unit at coaching camp, and certain all season lengthy, shall be incumbents Ja’Kobe Walter, Grady Dick, Ochai Agbaji, and AJ Lawson. There might be some minutes at level guard, however that’s extra of a long-term growth plan for Martin, who has had some reps because the lead ball-handler in Las Vegas, however probably isn’t prepared for that accountability on the NBA degree.
“I’ve been getting as many reps as I can on the level, so it feels comfy,” he mentioned. “And I am attending to the place I am getting guys organized, and likewise, like, simply being on time with the go, the reads and stuff like that. (However) it is all new, as a result of I by no means actually had the chance to be a full-time one. In order that’s why I am slightly behind on that. However, you recognize, all the things will catch up as soon as it is as soon as the season hits. And it is loads of video games, you get loads of reps.”
Within the meantime, it’s straightforward to profile Martin as a defensive terror and transition menace whom the Raptors can unleash situationally. Lengthy-term, he might profile as a Bruce Brown-type participant — somebody who makes use of their defensive versatility, athleticism and basketball IQ to enrich extra ball-dominant teammates, all whereas elevating the temperature of the sport.
“I believe one factor that generally will get taken as a right while you’re scouting expertise, you take a look at the expertise in itself, however it says one thing a few man that would take a small faculty to the Last 4 after which come again two years later and win a championship,” mentioned Raptors Summer time League head coach James Wade. “So, he is a winner, he is a competitor. And that is the one factor I believe we’ve (on the Summer time League roster); the entrance workplace did a extremely good job of placing this group collectively. We’ve 16 opponents, so we have gotten an opportunity to see it, and he is one of many leaders of that cost.
“The one factor that you’ll see with him is he has talent, and he has expertise, however you are going to see him compete evening in, evening out,” mentioned Wade. “And so if anyone’s on their heels, he’ll assault them.”
He’s completed his share in Las Vegas and can spend one final weekend within the desert enjoying in his third Last 4.
