Jose Calderon says the strained left Achilles tendon that prematurely ended his 2014/15 season is fully healthy, and the Spanish point guard is a fan of the moves the Knicks made this summer, even though he tried and failed to lure countryman Marc Gasol to the team, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post. Two seasons still remain on Calderon’s deal, but the 34-year-old added that he hasn’t been concerned that the Knicks might look to unload him this year, in spite of speculation, as Berman relays.
“I was never worried,” Calderon said to Berman. “It doesn’t mean I know for sure, but I was told I wasn’t involved in those trades and people I trust tell me that. And I talked to [coach] Derek [Fisher] during their free-agent meetings so they were keeping me always in the loop.’’
See more from around the Atlantic Division:
- No. 3 overall pick Jahlil Okafor isn’t just the first Sixers top-10 pick of the past three years who’s healthy entering training camp, he’s also arguably the first truly foundational player that GM Sam Hinkie has added, writes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post (Facebook link).
- The majority of ESPN’s Summer Forecast panel believes it’s likely the Celtics will pull off a splashy move this season, but Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com finds it tough to envision the team making a major acquisition, given the difficulty of finding a trade partner and the cap constraints on midseason swaps.
- President of basketball operations Danny Ainge has done his due diligence to put the Celtics in position to acquire major talent, but the luck necessary to ultimately snag a marquee name just hasn’t been present, argues Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
With Brad Stevens and the talent already on board one or more players may emerge and change the calculus at midseason. Patience is a virtue and maybe it will be D.Lee or IT that can yield another prime time player.