Nets' Tyrese Martin Breaks Down Offseason Plans

Sunday afternoon's loss to the New York Knicks wrapped up what has been a rocky season for the Brooklyn Nets, as they finished towards the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. The easy explanation for the Nets' struggles could be boiled down to injuries, as their leading scorer, Cam Thomas, only managed to make 25 appearances as he grappled with a reoccurring injury to his left hamstring throughout the campaign.

With their starting shooting guard out, Brooklyn head coach Jordi Fernandez had to look elsewhere on his roster to fill the minutes in, which led him to using Tyrese Martin for the better part of the entire season. The 26-year-old averaged 8.5 points per game on 40.1 percent shooting from the field, managing to be one of the better options for the Nets off of the bench.

This season was only Martin's second season in the NBA, having been a part of the Atlanta Hawks back in the 2022-23 season, where he'd only play an average of four minutes a night across 16 games. Given this rise in minutes throughout the entire season, Martin explained that while he's thankful for the opportunity, it's taken a notable toll on his body.

"It's definitely good, my body definitely feels it," said Martin. "First time I've played this many games in my professional career, especially at this level. So definitely grateful and appreciative of it, but I definitely feel it."

Given that the season is over, most players start to think about what they want to improve on in the offseason so that they'll make progress by the time they're set to report to training camp, Martin is no different. One area of his game that the 26-year-old looks to improve on is his role directing traffic on the court.

"Staying consistent as a shooter, you definitely have to shoot the ball consistently just to play in this league," stated Martin. "Obviously, I started playing on the ball towards the middle of the season, so getting better at that. Being more comfortable with reads, defenses, and handling the ball under pressure..."

Apart from the physical side of the game, Martin made it clear that he wishes to improve his standing in the team, wanting to become one of the bigger members on the team, given his age and experience.

"I definitely want to become one of the leaders on the team, I've played one of the least amount of NBA games coming into the season, but I feel like on our roster I'm the third oldest guy on the team," explained the 26-year-old. "I've played a lot of basketball, I feel like using my voice, I see the game well, coach trusts me to use my voice so the guys kind of listen to me. I want to step in more and be more comfortable as a leader... I feel like that's something I definitely will grow and excel in going forward."