Cartier Martin To Sign With Golden State Warriors

In heard it through the grapevine news, the Warriors plan to call-up Cartier Martin this weekend at small forward spot they've been looking to fill for the past couple of weeks.

Here's what I noted at the time of that article:

Martin is probably the favorite for this spot, but I don't necessarily think he's the best option.  The biggest thing he has going for him is the fact that he averaged 19.7 points and 4.3 boards for the Warriors Summer League entry out in Vegas, but his defense wasn't great and it wasn't hard to tell he was trying to fill the box score more than put in any sort of team effort (Warriors may coach this, I guess?).  Martin probably would have went to camp with the Warriors this year with a chance to make the team had he not signed overseas mid-Summer League.  I thought that was an odd decision, but it'll pay off if he gets this call-up after picking up some spending money in Italy.

While the Warriors were most familiar with him, I think they would have been better off signing Carlos Powell to that spot at this point in the season.  Not that Martin is a bad player - he's not - Powell is a bigger player, which the Warriors could use when they trot out the small backcourt they do and, in my opinion, a bit more well-rounded.

Nick Nurse, the head coach of Martin's team, the Iowa Energy, told D-League Digest's Steve Weinman that he believed Martin would be called-up soon, and by soon, he apparently meant tomorrow:

"Probably Cartier Martin," he said. "He had a really good game [Tuesday], and I had some teams contact me that are considering calling him up."

Nurse cited Martin's leadership and basketball IQ as assets while noting that the Energy have gone 27-7 in games Martin has appeared in over the last two seasons. While applauding the swingman's versatile array of skills, he labeled shooting Martin's strong suit. After clearly needing to shake some rust while coming off the bench in his first couple of games back, Martin has posted 18.4 points per game on 57 percent true shooting since returning to the starting lineup. That includes a terrific 17-for-42 mark (40.2 percent) from beyond the three-point line.

In 12 D-League games this season, Martin is averaging 14.4 points and 4.3 rebounds, shooting 43% from the field.