Should Hassan Martin Make the 2017-2018 Orlando Magic Roster?

Jul 8, 2017
3 min read

In a continuation from my original pondering of whether or not Hassan Martin could make the 2017-2018 Orlando Magic roster, I will now evaluate if Hassan Martin should make Orlando's roster for the upcoming season.

After watching all of the Magic's Summer League games, one thing is clear - they lack talented players. I am not the only person that holds this opinion and here are a few examples:

Out of the five games that the Orlando Magic played in the Orlando Summer League, Hassan Martin played in four games and started two of them. Keep in mind, Martin only received an increase in playing time and started in the two games due to an injury to Orlando's #6 overall draft pick, Jonathan Isaac. With that said, I think that the Staten Island native warranted every minute that he was on the floor.

After Martin barely played in Orlando's second game against the Miami Heat, he had consistent performances in two of the final three games. In his second Summer League game, the University of Rhode Island alum shined against the Dallas Mavericks, on his way to 9 points (3-5 FG and 3-4 FT), 6 rebounds, and 1 block in 20 minutes of playing time. Two days later, in Orlando's fourth (and Martin's third) Summer League game, #42 in black had 12 points (4-11 FG and 4-5 FT), 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks in 23 minutes. The biggest takeaway that I had from Martin's battle against the Knicks was his impressive +/- of 15, leading all players that participated in the game. Evidently, the Orlando Magic benefited from having the forward on the floor against New York. In Orlando's final Summer League versus the Charlotte Hornets, Martin had a game that he probably will want to forget. Although he had three points and four rebounds in his second start, he was plagued by foul trouble all afternoon and only played 19 minutes as a result.

Overall, Martin finished the Orlando Summer League with 64 minutes and 39 seconds of total playing time, good for the sixth-most number of minutes played among Orlando's players. While averaging 6.5 points per game, he shot 8-19 (42.1%) from the field and from the free throw line, Martin shot 10-12 (83.33%). Neither of those shooting percentages are extraordinary but they are more than serviceable for a NBA team. Clearly, Hassan Martin has made a dramatic improvement in his free throw shooting and it appears to no longer be a liability for him. Funnily enough, #42 for the Magic had the highest free throw shooting percentage of any player besides Matt Costello, who went two for two. On the glass, Martin brought in 17 total rebounds (four offensive), averaging 4.3 total rebounds per game. In addition, he had three huge blocks over the course of his play in the Orlando Summer League. Martin's athleticism certainly shined through on many occasions in Orlando, Florida.

From a negative standpoint, Hassan Martin only contributed two assists in his four games, while totaling 12 total fouls and turning the ball over four times.

By and large, I would say that Martin proved himself worthy of receiving an invite to Orlando's training camp. From that point, his possibility of securing a spot on the Orlando Magic's roster either as a full-time or two-way player will be in his hands.