Jose Calderon’s days with the New York Knicks may be numbered.
The veteran point guard has one year valued at $7.7 million left on his contract, and according to Marc Berman of the New York Post, team president Phil Jackson may be ready to cut bait with one of his first acquisitions as a way of opening up more cap space in free agency:
Lost in Anthony’s commitment issues is Rambis’ low-key decision to try Afflalo as sixth man. That’s a smart maneuver — with Jackson acknowledging the need to erase this season’s shoddy starting backcourt of Afflalo and point guard Jose Calderon.
The organization is considering using the stretch provision on Calderon to save more cap space, especially if Wroten looks nice in the summer league coming off ACL surgery.
Immediate reaction: LOL
Wroten, when healthy, drives more than Calderon. But he can’t shoot. Like, at all. It’s good that the Knicks are prepared to wait until his summer league returns are in before making a decision, but Wroten’s skill set won’t justify stretching Calderon, who can at least drain threes off the catch.
Under the stretch provision, the Knicks can pay Calderon the remaining value of his contract while spreading it out over double its life, plus one year. In this case, his expiring $7.7 million salary would be spread out over three years, giving the Knicks a cap hit of $2.6 million per season, which frees up more than $5 million in wiggle room for this summer.
But that’s something you should really only explore if it’s the difference between signing one or two high-end players and missing out on them altogether. There is no other incentive to absorbing a three-year hit, even if it’s smaller.
As bad as Calderon is, especially on defense, it’s hard to believe no team would eat what’s left of his contract just to grab a backup point guard who can shoot. His salary won’t seem so steep once the cap explodes, and with the free-agent point guard market lukewarm at best, there will be teams desperate for consolation prizes. Holding on to Calderon affords the Knicks a chance at moving him in a feasible salary dump that accomplishes what the stretch provision would do—only without the sting of paying a player you no longer employ.
