Cody Martin's minimal impact in Phoenix shows Hornets fleeced Suns in deadline deal

Back in February, the Charlotte Hornets decided to move on from Cody Martin, Vasilije Micic, and a 2nd round pick - all of which went to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Jusuf Nurkic and a future first-round selection.

Martin was nursing a hernia at the time of the trade, but Phoenix needed to move off of Nurkic and the combination of Martin/Micic helped make the financial part of the deal work. In all likelihood, both former Hornets will be on new teams next season.

For now, though, Martin can help the Suns in their pursuit of a postseason run. Currently, Phoenix resides in 10th place in the Western Conference, which is the final spot for the play-in tournament.

Recently, Martin made his debut with Phoenix and has now appeared in six games with the team, seemingly earning a spot in the rotation. To this point, he's averaging 4.8 points, four rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 1.3 assists while shooting a dreadful 34% from the field and 15% from three-point range. But as you know, Martin's value lies on the defensive end of the floor and he's certainly helped Phoenix in that aspect.

Neither Martin nor Micic are impact players who can play a key role in the playoffs. If we're being honest, there's a pretty good chance that both would be left out of the scaled-down rotation when postseason play begins, assuming they make it.

The fact that Jeff Peterson was able to pry away a first-round pick and Jusuf Nurkic for a pair of depth pieces remains mind-boggling.

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