JULY 11th: The Mavericks announced today, via press release, that they have officially signed Calderon.
JULY 5th: The Mavs and point guard Jose Calderon have agreed to a four-year deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Marc Stein of ESPN.com originally reported the two sides were closing in on the deal (Twitter link). Chris Broussard of ESPN.com hears that Calderon will get a total of $29MM (on Twitter). The move appears to be the team's first step along its "Plan B" after missing out on Dwight Howard.
Calderon is leaving the Pistons, who acquired him as part of the Rudy Gay trade in January. The team had sought to re-sign him, but his decision to go to Dallas was a matter of timing, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News (Twitter link). The deal is fully guaranteed, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com, who adds that Calderon seriously considered a pitch from the Kings as well. The veteran point guard also showed interest in the Lakers, though it's not clear whether L.A. reciprocated that interest.
The 31-year-old saw his assists per game fall to 7.1 this season after averaging close to nine per game the previous two years, but he remains one the league's canniest distributors. His 11.3 points per game in 2012/13 were the second most of his career, behind only the 12.8 PPG he notched in 2008/09.
Calderon’s a smart and efficient player. Should figure out the Mike James problem in Dallas.