Alijah Martin’s early season was defined by a desperate search for an identity at the end of the bench. He lived on the fringes of the rotation, battling brutal metrics almost every time he touched the floor. Look at his 01/10 vs BOS outing. He tallied 7 points and 3 assists in 15 minutes, but dragged the lineup down with a dismal -8.1 Impact score because of erratic perimeter shot selection, bricking four of his five three-point attempts. The very next night on 01/11 vs PHI, Martin flipped the script entirely. Despite shooting a miserable 3-for-11 from the field for just 9 points, he generated a massive +11.8 Impact score by grinding out 8 rebounds and injecting pure hustle into a season-high 30 minutes of action. Unfortunately, that gritty performance was a fleeting anomaly. By 01/17 vs LAC, he was back to bleeding value, registering an -8.0 Impact score in 11 minutes as his complete lack of rebounding and defensive invisibility negated a tidy 5-point shooting night.

Alijah Martin spent the middle of the 2025-26 season marooned at the end of the bench, logging empty garbage-time minutes that actively hurt his team. Given a relatively generous four minutes on 02/08 vs IND, he forced the issue offensively, clanking three of his four shot attempts to earn a dismal -6.4 impact score. His brief cameos routinely felt rushed. During a brutal one-minute stint on 03/03 vs NYK, Martin hoisted a quick, ill-advised shot and posted a staggering -10.0 impact score. Even when the ball finally went through the hoop, his overall presence remained stubbornly in the red. He scored four points on perfect shooting in just one minute on 03/11 vs NOP, yet still registered a -3.0 impact score because his complete lack of rebounding and passing made him a one-dimensional liability.