The Boys are Back in Town Part 1: Kenyon Martin
February 4th, 2012
“Lob City” is getting another tool to play with very soon. Kenyon Martin is a former no. 1 overall pick that had tremendous athleticism, not too unlike Blake Griffin, coming out of college. However, injuries derailed his promising career, much like Antonio McDyess, and the original K-Mart was forced to adapt his game to fit his reduced athleticism. This past year, because of the NBA lockout, a number of Denver’s players were unable to go without a paycheck and opted to take their talents to China. Among those on this list were Wilson Chandler, J.R. Smith, Kenyon Martin, and Aaron Brooks (not on the Denver Nuggets). The departure of these three Nugget players allowed the team to move on, as each one carried a certain type of baggage. Chandler is known to dribble into traffic too much, thus disrupting the offense; J.R. Smith takes many, many, many ill-advised shots (although he is one of the streakiest and most talented shooters in the league); and K-Mart is old, decrepit, and has never played a full season. Since 2008, he has played in 66 games, 58 games, and 48 games each season out of a possible 82. Those are not very reliable numbers, despite his great deal of talent. Now that FIBA released K-Mart from his Chinese Basketball Association contract, he recently signed with the L.A. Clippers, figuring to be the first big man off the bench playing behind the young tandem of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
How will he improve the Clippers? Last season with Denver, in a starting role when he did play, he averaged 8.6 points and 6.2 rebounds in 25 minutes. He shot 51% from the floor and came close to averaging a steal and a block per game also, as he has done most of his career. Those are not bad numbers for a player coming off the bench. For a starter, those are subpar, but if he can bring some consistent energy-free minutes off the bench in L.A., he may yet just give them a good amount of depth to get ready for the playoffs. He defends the post quite well and battles bigger players more efficiently than you might think, considering he has terrible knees and is only 6’9 240lbs. He also crashes the defensive boards well enough to offset Blake Griffin’s high offensive rebounding percentage, thus making him able to complement Blake when they’re on the floor together.
Other contenders, including the Heat and the Atlanta Hawks, coveted the 34-year-old Forward-Center. The Miami Heat are desperate for more big men to fill the gaping hole in the middle where Joel Anthony claims to reside. The Hawks lost Al Horford for the season to injury and could have really used another veteran big man to play alongside Zaza Pachulia. Besides his defense, the Clippers can count on K-Mart to bring a high shooting percentage and efficient offensive usage to their team. Fans should be wary and temper their expectations, though, because Kenyon Martin’s legs could give up on him at any moment.
The Clippers wont be back to the Los Angeles Staples Center until February 15th against the Washington Wizards. We have great seats available to see Kenyon Martin in his new Clippers uniform and the rest of the LA Clips vs the Wizards. You can purchase Wizards Vs Clippers Tickets today. You can also purchase Clippers Tickets for all home and away Clips games.
K-Mart is a great veteran addition for the Clippers. They are going to be in need of a solid big man off the bench as they continue through their season. The middle of the season is quickly upon the Clippers and K-Mart will be a guiding force.
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Life Long Clippers Fan..glad to see them finally winning.