The Hornets and restricted free agent Cody Martin have reached an agreement on a multiyear deal, reports Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Martin is signing a four-year, $32M contract to remain in Charlotte.
Martin, 26, has spent his first three NBA seasons with the Hornets and emerged as a key part of the team’s rotation in 2021-22. He averaged an extra 10 minutes per game and improved his numbers across the board, setting new career highs in PPG (7.7), RPG (4.0), APG (2.5), SPG (1.2), FG% (.482) and 3PT% (.384).
A second-round pick in 2019, Martin earned a total of $4.47M in his first three years in the NBA, so his new deal represents a major pay increase. Because the Hornets held his Bird rights, they won’t need to dip into their mid-level exception to complete the signing.
The deal with Martin is the first move of what has been a relatively quiet free-agent period in Charlotte so far. In the weeks leading up to free agency, it was assumed that sorting out Miles Bridges‘ contract situation would be the Hornets’ top priority. However, Bridges was arrested and charged with felony domestic violence this week.
With Bridges’ NBA future up in the air, the Hornets shifted their focus to re-signing their other key restricted free-agent wing. It’s unclear to what extent Martin explored the open market, but Charlotte would have had the ability to match any offer sheet he signed. The two sides avoided any drama by negotiating a new directly.
Martin’s twin brother Caleb Martin is one of the top free agents still on the board. Cody and Caleb ranked 28th and 29th, respectively, on the final iteration of our list of this year’s top 50 free agents.
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