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The 12-year veteran was a key reserve for the Clippers, his impact going way beyond his marginal numbers (5.2 points, 4.3 rebounds) for a team that reached the second round of the playoffs for the second time in franchise history. But sources said the 34-year-old power forward is holding up this later stage of the hiring process for frontcourt free agents, with the Lakers and the Nets among the teams he’s considering and negotiation leverage seemingly gone because so many of his colleagues seem willing to take minimum deals.
Golden State was interested in Martin before last week signing power forward Carl Landry to a two-year, $8 million deal that, by comparison, looks lucrative. Veterans of varying pedigrees like Leandro Barbosa, Jermaine O’Neal, Matt Barnes, Mickael Pietrus, Josh Howard, Michael Redd, Louis Amundson, Joel Przybilla and Anthony Tolliver are among the players waiting longer than normal for a job. Przybilla was expected to pick between Milwaukee, Portland and Dallas over the weekend, according to a source close to him, but there’s no word just yet.
Agent Mark Bartelstein, who represents a lot of the league’s middle-class players, is navigating this changed landscape but refuted the notion that the money is all gone at this point.
— Reported by Sam Amick of SI.com
