On Friday night, the Dallas Mavericks’ tough season was put to an end. Despite defeating the Sacramento Kings for their first win-or-go-home matchup in the NBA Play-In Tournament, the Mavs failed to make the playoffs, coming up short against the Memphis Grizzlies in the battle for the eighth seed.
Throughout the matchup, all of the negative feelings towards Dallas’ front office came out on social media, understandably so. At the start of the year, the Mavericks had Luka Doncic and Quentin Grimes. Before the trade deadline, they were flipped for Anthony Davis and Caleb Martin, with the latter player catching a ton of heat on Friday night for his Play-In performances.
@BerkanMFFL: Y’all I DO NOT like Caleb Martin lol
Y’all I DO NOT like Caleb Martin lol
— Berkan MFFL (@BerkanMFFL) April 19, 2025
@Mavs_FFL: Caleb Martin is an offensive liability, to put it nicely
Caleb Martin is an offensive liability, to put it nicely
— MFFL (@Mavs_FFL) April 19, 2025
@pandahank41: Quentin Grimes didn’t make the play-in, but he has the same amount of points as Caleb Martin, who has played 6 quarters.
Quentin Grimes didn’t make the play-in, but he has the same amount of points as Caleb Martin, who has played 6 quarters.
— Panda Hank (a broken fan) (@pandahank41) April 19, 2025
The Mavericks acquired Grimes from the Detroit Pistons back in July. For Grimes, he was involved in his second trade in under a year. He played in 47 games for the Mavericks, averaging 10 points on 40 percent shooting from three, along with four rebounds and two assists per game.
Without a trade request, Grimes was sent alongside a 2025 second-round pick to the Sixers back in February. The Mavericks front office claimed to have liked Martin’s two-way value more, despite having nothing but positive things to say about the 24-year-old Grimes.
Unfortunately, the Martin experience hasn’t gone well in Dallas.
@MavsFilmRoom: Caleb Martin is having an insanely bad game
@OfficialRomp: How’d the sixers get Quentin grimes for Caleb Martin
@LukaADTrade: We traded for Caleb Martin because… ???
When Dallas acquired Martin, the former Sixer was recovering from a setback that had bothered him throughout the year. With the Sixers, Martin averaged nine points, four rebounds, and one steal per game. He made 38 percent of his threes on nearly three attempts per outing.
It took some time for Martin to debut with Dallas. He finished the regular season with 14 appearances. During that stretch, Martin averaged five points and three rebounds while shooting 25 percent from three. The veteran forward struggled in Dallas’ Play-In win over Sacramento, logging zero points in 12 minutes. He followed up with a zero-point game in 10 minutes in Memphis on Friday.
The trade obviously stings a lot more, considering the way Grimes’ stretch with the Sixers played out. In 28 games, Grimes averaged 22 points, five rebounds, and five assists. He’s become a top priority for the Sixers in free agency. Meanwhile, the Mavericks have a struggling Martin under contract for the next three seasons, paying him nearly $20 million over the next two seasons.
