Heat extends qualifying offer to Caleb Martin ahead of free agency. What the move means
The Miami Heat is handling its business ahead of free agency.
The Heat extended a $2.1 million qualifying offer to forward Caleb Martin on Tuesday, as expected, to retain the right to match outside offers up to the $10.3 million midlevel exception to re-sign him this offseason. In other words, the qualifying offer means that Martin will be a restricted free agent this summer.
“I want to be here,” Martin said of his desire to return to the Heat after the season came to an end in late May. “I got better here, and I believe I will get better here. Obviously, I just want a great situation no matter what. But I just think with how close I’ve gotten with the guys and the people here, and how much better and more confident I’ve been here. I feel like my team and my staff believes in me and believes that I’m going to get better here.”
But the Heat’s resources to re-sign Martin are limited, as it does not hold his Bird rights and isn’t on track to have cap space. Miami does not have the ability to match an outside offer to Martin above the $10.3 million mid-level exception for next season.
The Heat can bring Martin back using the non-Bird exception with a starting salary of up to $2.2 million or the $4.1 million biannual exception, but more likely would need to turn to either the $6.4 million taxpayer midlevel exception or $10.3 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception to keep him based on the type of offers he’s expected to receive on the free agent market.
The Athletic’s John Hollinger developed a valuation system that has Martin currently worth about $8.9 million, which would be close to the full $10.3 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception. If the Heat is forced to use the non-taxpayer midlevel exception, it will be hard capped at about $155 million this upcoming season.
Martin is also expected to want a contract that includes guaranteed money for multiple seasons, with the non-taxpayer midlevel exception able to be used for a deal up to four years long.
“Obviously, being open-minded during free agency. You have to be and it’s my first experience with that,” Martin said. “But I want to be [with the Heat]. I love being here. I want to be here, so that’s all I got on my mind right now until I see what happens or whatever type of experience I’m going to get in free agency.”
After earning a total of about $2.9 million in salary during his first three NBA seasons, Martin is expected to sign the biggest contract of his career this offseason.
Martin, who went undrafted in 2019 out of Nevada, was waived by the Charlotte Hornets last August and ended up signing a two-way contract with the Heat last offseason despite having two NBA seasons under his belt.
Martin made the most of his Heat opportunity and quickly became the NBA’s best two-way contract player. As he turned into a fixture in the bench rotation with his blend of athleticism and size making him a versatile weapon on both ends of the court, the Heat converted Martin’s two-way deal into a standard contract in February and made him part of its 15-man roster to make sure he was eligible for the playoffs.
Martin, who turns 27 in September, averaged career-highs in points (9.2) and rebounds (3.8) this regular season. He also shot a career-best 50.7 percent from the field and raised his three-point percentage from last season’s 24.8 percent to 41.3 percent in 60 regular-season games (12 starts) in his first season with the Heat. Nagging injuries slowed Martin toward the end of the season, but he was still part of the rotation for most of the playoffs.
In addition to extending a qualifying offer to Martin on Tuesday, the Athletic’s Shams Charania reported on Monday that veteran forward P.J. Tucker opted out of his $7.4 million player option with the Heat for next season to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Although the expectation is that Tucker will opt out to enter free agency, a source close to the situation told the Miami Herald on Monday night that he has not yet formally made a decision on his player option. Tucker, who turned 37 in May, has until June 29 to make his decision official.
Along with Tucker having the option to enter free agency, there are five players from the Heat’s season-ending roster who will become free agents this summer: Dewayne Dedmon, Udonis Haslem, Markieff Morris and Victor Oladipo will be unrestricted free agents, and Martin will be a restricted free agent.
Free-agent negotiations across the NBA are expected to begin on June 30.
SUMMER LEAGUE BOUND
Heat center Omer Yurtseven is expected to play in Las Vegas summer league games after dominating the summer circuit last year. The initial belief was that Yurtseven would not be able to participate this year because of obligations with the Turkish national team, but the Heat said Monday that Yurtseven will play in Las Vegas summer league games.
The Heat begins Las Vegas summer league action against the Boston Celtics on July 9 at 5:30 p.m. at Cox Pavilion, which will be broadcast on NBA TV.
This story was originally published June 21, 2022 at 2:33 PM.
