Jarell Martin averaged nearly 23 minutes a night and scored 7.7 points per game for the Grizzlies last season, having pressed into more service than Memphis had hoped due to injury. Martin does most of his scoring at the rim, but he can step out and hit a three if needed (he only took 1.3 a game but he shot a respectable 34.7 percent).
Martin is also owed $2.4 million next season and the Grizzlies are trying to get under the salary cap, so Martin has been traded to Orlando in a deal broken by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.The Memphis Grizzlies have agreed to trade forward Jarell Martin and cash to the Orlando Magic for center Dakari Johnson, league sources told ESPN.
The deal includes the Magic sending Memphis the draft rights to Tyler Harvey, a 2015 second-round pick, a league source said. The Grizzlies will save on salary and luxury tax with the deal, dropping them $473,000 below the luxury tax.
I’d like to thank the @memgrizz organization for giving me this opportunity. I want to thank my teammates, coaches and staff for all your support. Most importantly, to the city of Memphis and all its great fans, thank you #GrindCity for embracing me and showing me love. pic.twitter.com/kn9ltJbtxF
— Jarell Martin (@MartinJarell) July 23, 2018
For Memphis, this was about saving money.
For Orlando, they get some cash, and in Johnson a center who has spent the first three years of his career in the G-League but got up for 31 games with the Thunder last season. Johnson is at best their third center now behind Marc Gasol and Ivan Raab.
For Martin, this trade sucks. He spent most of last season playing the four and getting run, but the Magic have just-resigned Aaron Gordon and Summer League standout Jonathan Isaac to eat up most of the minutes there (plus Khem Birch on the bench). Martin can play a little small-ball five, but again the Magic are stacked at that spot with Nikola Vucevic, Mohamed Bamba, and Timofey Mozgov. Martin is going to have a hard time seeing the court in Orlando, he’s going to see his minutes go down.
