When we last saw Kevin Martin he was playing against the Knicks when he fractured the wrist on his shooting hand. That was Nov. 19.
Wednesday night he should be back in the Timberwolves’ rotation as they take on the Boston Celtics, reports Jerry Zgoda of the Star-Tribune. (They will wait until after pre-game warmups to make it official.)
He had hoped to make his return last Wednesday against Dallas, but awoke that morning with it significantly swollen. He had fluid drained from it on Thursday and has had a compression brace on it since then….
He shot before the game in Oklahoma City, apparently very, very well. “Great,” he said when asked how it went. “That’s one thing I can do, shoot.”
Minnesota wants him to shoot — not so much to win more games, the Timberwolves are lottery bound, but to increase Martin’s trade value as the deadline approaches. Before the injury Martin was off to a hot start, averaging 24 points a game and shooting 48 percent from three.
Martin’s shooting could interest contenders looking to space the floor and you can bet the Timberwolves will be showing off his skill set. The challenge will be moving his salary — $7 million next season with a player option of $7.3 million for 2016-17 (and there’s a solid chance he picks up that option).
But if a team needs shooting that price may seem fair.
