Knicks' Calderon on possible trade: 'If the opportunity comes, why not?'
That the 5-35 New York Knicks are being stripped for parts is not lost on those veterans still hanging around.
The Knicks are shedding salary bit by bit, looking to open up cap space ahead of what they hope will be franchise-altering free-agency periods in 2015 and 2016.
Point guard Jose Calderon has two seasons left on his contract after the current one, at $7.4 million and $7.7 million, respectively, and recognizes that if his team has an opportunity to get out from under that financial commitment, the Knicks are likely to pounce on it.
"It can happen," Calderon told Marc Berman of the New York Post on Wednesday. "Why would you be surprised? They’re changing the staff. I don’t know what’s on their minds. If the opportunity comes, why not? It’s a business. They have a plan and really want that cap space."
Berman also reports that despite rumors to the contrary, a source claims Knicks president and general manager Phil Jackson would prefer not to give up on Calderon so soon, hoping to see him play better. He was brought over in an offseason trade this summer largely with the expectation that he'd thrive in the triangle offense.
That hasn't happened. Instead, Calderon is shooting the worst percentage, handing out assists at the lowest rate, and posting the worst PER of his 10-year career. At this point, Jackson's hopes of seeing Calderon play better are likely more about having him rebuild his trade value than anything else.
"I came here thinking I was part of it," Calderon said of the Knicks' plan for the future. "I still think I am. They’ve said nothing different."
The Knicks will try to end a 15-game losing streak - the longest in franchise history - against the Milwaukee Bucks in London on Thursday.