Jose Calderon Reportedly Informs Toronto Raptors He's Open to Trade

The Dallas Mavericks have admired Toronto Raptors point guard Jose Calderon from a distance for years.

Now they are thinking about bringing the 30-year-old Spaniard to Dallas.

According to Marc Stein of ESPN, Calderon recently told the Raptors that he would be open to a trade, given the fact that Kyle Lowry will now likely be the starter in Toronto for coach Dwane Casey.

The Mavericks lost both Jason Kidd and Jason Terry this summer, but they recently acquired center Chris Kaman and traded center Ian Mahinmi to the Indiana Pacers for point guard Darren Collison and Dahntay Jones. Still, Calderon would likely be the starter in Dallas if he landed there and, at the least, would provide some depth at the point guard position for the Mavericks.

Calderon not only averaged 10.5 points and 8.8 assists while shooting 45 percent from the floor and 37 percent from downtown last season for the Raptors, he registered a respectable PER of 16.7 and continues to be a strong free-throw shooter.

There are questions about Calderon's defense, as well as his durability (he hasn't played more than 68 games in a single season since the 2007-2008 season), but overall, he's so effective on offense that he generally cancels out his weaknesses.

Despite losing an established veteran in Kidd this offseason, the Mavericks may actually improve at the point guard position overall if they can land Calderon in addition to Collison. They also get a bit younger by moving on from the 39-year-old Kidd.

Don't expect a trade for Calderon to come right away, though. The Mavericks are reportedly waiting to see how much they are going to have to bid for recently amnestied veteran power forward Elton Brand. He clears waivers at 5 p.m. on Friday.

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