Stoudemire's future with the Knicks increasingly unclear
Amar'e Stoudemire is aiming to return to the New York Knicks' lineup for Thursday's game against the Milwaukee Bucks in London, England after missing nine contests with a knee injury.
But how many more games he'll play for the Knicks after that is very much uncertain.
In his first public comments since the tanking Knicks moved guards Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith to the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of a three-team deal, Stoudemire insinuated he may not make it through the entire season in a New York uniform.
From Marc Berman of the New York Post:
"It's a very difficult situation at this point," Stoudemire said. "It's a hard decision for me to make. My loyalty has always been with New York and the Knicks. So it will be tough right now to make a decision as far as going somewhere else at this point. It's something I have to think about. I'm sure over time I'll sit and think about the best scenario for myself.
"For now, I know I've been through injuries throughout my career. I have to make sure I'm able to be strong enough and prepared to play for (a) team contending for a championship. New York is trying to rebuild. Hopefully that will be sooner than later."
The Knicks, who are reportedly shopping Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani and face the risk of losing star Carmelo Anthony to season-ending knee surgery, would presumably move Stoudemire if they can find any takers, but that's unlikely. He's on a $23.4-million expiring contract and his injury history, in addition to the NBA's salary cap, would probably scare off contending teams from assuming the remainder of his salary.
New York - riding a franchise-worst 15-game losing streak - could always waive him, but Berman said Stoudemire's relationship with team owner James Dolan would likely prevent that from happening unless the power forward expressed a desire to leave the Big Apple.
It was, after all, Stoudemire who took a maximum contract as a free agent ahead of the 2010-11 season to join the Knicks in a failed attempt to bring the organization back to respectability. It appears Dolan values that.
But it also sounds like Stoudemire is reluctant to play for the league's worst team on bad knees, while it's in the midst of a rebuild.
"We don't have the best record in the league at this point," Stoudemire said. "I don't want to go out and hinder (myself) for the future. I want to make sure I'm healthy for the rest of this season and also the future."
Stoudemire, 32, is averaging 13.1 points on 55.8-percent shooting from the field and 7.4 rebounds in 26.4 minutes per game.