Report: Wolves to Sign Forward Tyrese Martin to One-Year Contract

The Minnesota Timberwolves are signing former Atlanta Hawks forward Tyrese Martin to a one-year deal, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Martin will compete for a regular-season spot during the Wolves’ training camp.

The former UCONN Husky was drafted 51st overall in the 2022 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors before the Hawks traded for him on draft night in exchange for the rights to Ryan Rollins.

In 16 appearances for the Hawks, Martin averaged 1.3 points and 0.8 rebounds in 4.1 minutes per game (66 total minutes) across 16 contests.

Martin spent most of his rookie season in the G League playing for the College Park Skyhawks, averaging 18.1 points on on 50.3/36.6/80.5 shooting splits, 8.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists to 2.7 turnovers, 0.9 steals and 0.3 blocks in 33 minutes per game across 23 appearances (all starts).

Martin, who is heading into his second season, will compete with other recent training camp signees Trevor Keels, Matt Ryan, Daishen Nix and Vit Krejčí for the final open roster spot and final open two-way spot on the roster.

Luka Garza and rookie second-round draft pick Jaylen Clark currently hold two of the three two-way spots.

Martin’s Pathway to Success

Martin is an older prospect at 24 years old. He played four seasons of college basketball, with two seasons at Rhode Island before transferring to UCONN for his final two years.

With his large frame at 6-foot-6, 215 pounds and decent athleticism, Martin will need to show he can defend at a high level while also adequately spacing the defense.

For the Wolves, the team has other reserve wings ahead of Martin on the roster in Troy Brown Jr., Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Josh Minott, Leonard Miller and Wendell Moore Jr, so it’s tough to see him cracking a roster with this much wing depth that the team has already invested in.

Bringing in Positional Size

The Wolves have tapped into their identity of players with positional size in their recent training camp signees. Keels, Nix and Martin use their physicality to barrel through traffic or throw themselves on the defensive glass. However, shooting is a question mark for all three of these players.

Martin showed dramatic improvement in college with his 3-point shooting between his junior and senior year going from a 32% shooter to a 43% shooter on double the attempts. If he can carry the shooting over, he could find himself in an NBA rotation at some point in his career.