Martin to Have Surgery, Implications Going Forward

Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune is reporting that Kevin Martin will undergo surgery to repair his broken wrist. The veteran shooting guard is expected to miss at least six weeks while recovering. Martin is leading the team in scoring by a big margin — his 20.4 points per game is trailed closest by Thaddeus Young’s 14.3 average. On the other hand, K-Mart is a notoriously bad defender and sometimes even his hot nights are more than offset by his opponent’s production.

What sorts of changes can we expect to see in the next couple months, without Martin?

Here are a few possibilities:

* Corey Brewer will be the starting shooting guard.

We’ve already seen this in the first two Martin-less games. Brewer is the starter at the two. He played 32 minutes against San Antonio on Friday and 30 more on Saturday against the Kings. Brewer can play as much as Flip wants; his superhuman skill is a total immunity to fatigue. His mere mortal status is evident in his shooting ability, which is a lot worse than Martin’s. With other plausible options either not capable (Chase Budinger) or needed elsewhere (Mo Williams, subbing for Ricky Rubio at point) it seems likely that Brewer will play a lot of minutes at off guard.

* Brewer may not be traded for the foreseeable future.

There was a recent report from Marc Stein of ESPN that the Wolves were engaged in trade talks involving Brewer with both Houston and Cleveland. Some later reports suggested any trade would require that Brewer waive his 2015-16 player option. Given that this option is worth $5 Million, and Brewer is unlikely to command that again on the open market, that may have been a deal-breaker. In any event, the Martin injury might delay any potential Brewer trades. (Unless those trades can bring back a different shooting guard.)

* Andrew Wiggins will be more involved in the offense.

This could be good or bad, depending on whether you want to see the most immediately-competitive basketball possible (bad) or if you’d rather watch the future develop before your eyes (good). Personally, I have not enjoyed watching Flip’s halfcourt offense this year. Particularly after Rubio’s injury, the Wolves sets seem entirely aimed at setting screens to free moving players for open mid-range jumpers. And Martin was, by far, the player that the offense centered around most. Even if that led to some surprisingly-decent results (Martin’s PER of 21.9 would be a career high if it lasted all season) it fails on the following bases:

* It isn’t fun to watch;
* It does nothing to develop the young players, who are mostly just watching Martin run around and shoot; and
* It is not the type of system that will ever (again) breed consistent success in the NBA. Most teams have discovered the relative value of spread pick-and-roll basketball and three-point shots. Martin’s Reggie Miller imitation will never be the foundation of a decent team.

So without Martin, we have seen something entirely different: The Wolves are posting up Andrew Wiggins and force feeding him the ball around the block. And the results have been okay! On Friday versus San Antonio, Wiggins had a string of baskets in a row, operating on the block against different Spurs defenders (one of whom was Kawhi Leonard). On Saturday versus the Kings, he did even more of the same, posting a career-high 29 points.

With Martin sitting, and not taking all the shots, Wiggins should be thrust into a more active offensive role.

* Maybe the Wolves can begin to take more pride in their defense.

Right now, the Wolves are 29th out of 30 in total defense. (Points allowed per possession.) Their 111.5 points allowed per 100 possessions is closer to the dreadful Lakers (114.4) than the 28th place Knicks (108.4). Before I go further, I should point out that the Wolves are defending slightly better with Martin on the floor than when he’s off of it.

But the 110.2 points they allow per 100 possessions with Martin on the floor is a ton, and his career-long struggles as a defender suggest that he’ll be more problem than solution as the team works to patch the leaks over time. Furthermore, the small sample size of Martin-less defense is probably a little bit skewed by facing the Spurs juggernaut on Friday night.

Hopefully with Brewer, Wiggins, and eventually Rubio again, the Wolves can start taking steps toward competence on the defensive side of the floor. Really, when you think about the bigger picture, the upside of a team led by Rubio and Wiggins begins on D. Starting with abysmal performance isn’t good for anybody.

* Shabazz to play a little bit more

Shabazz Muhammad has been one of the team’s best players, this season. Among Timberwolves with more than a couple minutes of action (basically, everybody but Glenn Robinson III) Shabazz has the following ranks on the team:

* 2nd in points/minute
* 3rd in rebounds/minute
* 4th in field goal percentage
* 4th in true shooting percentage
* 4th in net rating (team performance per possession)

In spite of all of this, Muhammad ranks just 11th in minutes per game. (9th in total minutes, ahead of Rubio and LaVine.)

Martin’s injury will open up some playing time at the wing possessions, which should give Shabazz more opportunities to prove himself to the coaching staff. He has played — started even — at power forward in recent games, and the combination of injuries across the board will probably have Flip tinkering with some funky lineups in the future. Nobody stands to benefit from that more than Bazz, whose unconventional size-skill combo is all about trying new things.

Next game is Wednesday at home versus the Bucks. What are you looking for in Martin’s absence?