What Should New York Knicks Do with Jose Calderon?
The New York Knicks are about to enter their most important offseason in years, and one way to maximise flexibility for the summer ahead could be to move injured point guard Jose Calderon.
Phil Jackson is already expected to have plenty of spending money in free agency—roughly $25.5 million if you factor in cap holds—but the $7.4 million the Knicks owe Calderon in 2015-16 remains an unnecessary handicap.
Last summer, Calderon was acquired in the trade that sent Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton to the Dallas Mavericks. Along with saving money on Chandler's contract, the supposed upgrade Calderon would be on Felton was the major selling point for New York.
As it turns out, Calderon has struggled plenty with injury, appearing in just 42 games and not looking particularly good when he has been on the court. He's averaging just 10.8 points and 5.6 assists per 36 minutes—combining for his least impressive production since his rookie year—and has been shooting a career-low 42 percent from the field.
Calderon is not a terrible player by any means, but with two years and $15.1 million left on his contract, the Knicks are getting particularly bad value here. Once Andrea Bargnani is renounced this summer, he'll be the new sore thumb on the Knicks' payroll.
What makes things more interesting is that of New York's few standout players this season, two have been cheap point guards who have clearly outplayed Calderon.
Alexey Shved and Langston Galloway have been marginally less efficient than Calderon, but between them have been largely responsible for most of the more competitive displays the Knicks have had since Carmelo Anthony's season was ended by injury. In contrast to Calderon, their combined cost to the Knicks this season has been just $4.1 million.
Luckily the Knicks have options with Calderon—three to be exact. They can keep him and hope he bounces back with an improved roster around him, trade him (likely in a package with Tim Hardaway Jr. or another young asset) or waive him with the stretch provision to save on a portion of his contract in the short term. Let's take a detailed look at each move before making a final decision in which direction New York should go.
Keep Him
Though it would be a bad idea if he continued to underperform and miss every other game with injury, keeping Calderon remains an option for the Knicks. This past season has been out of character for him as one of the NBA's most consistent and efficient floor generals, and it could be argued that this is mainly due to being in a new situation with a weak supporting cast.
At his best, Calderon has the potential to be a great fit in the triangle offense. He has a pass-first mentality, is a serious threat from downtown and has experience that is otherwise lacking on New York's current roster.
Calderon may not be worth the entirety of his salary in this scenario, but with $25.5 million, Jackson and company would have the means to compensate for that with value signings and a top draft pick on the rookie scale.
Of course, this is ignoring a few glaring issues. The first is Calderon's age—he's 33, and it isn't uncommon for players to decline drastically at this point in their careers. While it's nice to be optimistic, 2014-15 could end up being Calderon's first step down that path.
The NBA is also stacked with quality point guards, and while the position isn't necessarily emphasised in the triangle, having someone who is as big a defensive liability as Calderon puts the Knicks at a severe disadvantage on that end of the floor. Defense at the 1 has plagued them for years now.
Trade Him
With that in mind, the Knicks' first port of call if they decide to move on from Calderon would be to try to find a willing trade partner. Because of his age and salary, the Knicks would need to add another asset to sweeten the deal, and even then it might be difficult to actually pull off saving a significant amount of money.
In this scenario, Hardaway would be the likely trade piece. He's clearly talented offensively but is coming off a disappointing season in which he struggled to adapt to Derek Fisher's system. According to Chris Broussard of ESPN, the Knicks already tried to move Hardaway and Calderon before the trade deadline in exchange for Goran Dragic.
Even with Hardaway, finding a partner willing to take Calderon will be difficult, although it is worth noting that he has only two years left on his deal.
A rebuilding team with cap space, like the Philadelphia 76ers, may be willing to eat his contract while they collect young assets like Hardaway, as Calderon's contract could expire by the time they finally decide to be big spenders in free agency.
From the Knicks' point of view, a trade is only worthwhile if they're saving at least $5 million. Hardaway's $1.3 million salary for 2015-16 would contribute to that, but the Knicks will know that regardless of what happens, they retain the option to waive Calderon and save on a decent chunk of his contract in the short term. More importantly, doing so would mean they avoid giving up on Hardaway after only two years.
Waive Him
Using the stretch provision, the Knicks will be able to waive Calderon and spread the remaining $15.1 million of his contract over five years, at $3 million per year. For the coming offseason, that would mean saving an extra $4.4 million, taking the Knicks' available spending money up to almost $30 million.
An immediate red flag here is that New York would be paying a player no longer on its roster until 2019-20. No team wants to be in that situation, but $3 million isn't a huge sum, especially with the NBA's salary cap expected to increase big-time once the new TV deal kicks in in 2016.
In context, it's a relatively small price to pay for freeing up the extra money for this summer. With $30 million, the Knicks could potentially make a run at two or three new starters, to go along with their draft pick and the mid-level exception. It would be huge for the rebuilding process to pull that off.
As for who will be left at point guard, Galloway and Shved could be brought back to form a committee at the position with a cheap free agent. Someone like Patrick Beverley would fit nicely, filling the need of a defensive stopper and giving the Knicks a fairly well-rounded unit overall.
The Verdict
Ultimately, a decision needs to be made on just how important Calderon is going to be for the Knicks moving forward. If he struggles to contribute to the team any more than Shved and Galloway offensively, and is a liability on defense, there's really no use in having his full salary against the cap.
Successfully trading Calderon will be difficult, but if it can be done while saving over $5 million, that's a no-brainer. Realistically, though, the Knicks will need to use the stretch provision if they decide to part ways with Calderon.
That extra $4.4 million isn't a huge amount, but for the past year or so the Knicks have been doing everything in their power to maximise cap space for this offseason, and that shouldn't change now. Having a little more to spend—especially if New York is going to be looking to hand out max contracts—is certainly more useful than Calderon has been so far in orange and blue.
It's a difficult decision to make, but Jackson has done so much to save cap room, even trading Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith essentially for nothing. It would be a waste not to continue down that path with the contract of a player who has been a disappointment to date.
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