Raptors Youth Makes Calderon Worth Keeping Around

[Built Ford Tough]

Most likely amnesty cut: None

 

How likely to use amnesty this season? Jump ball

 

Other amnesty candidates: Jose Calderon and Linas Kleiza

 

Analysis: Sources with knowledge of Toronto's thinking say that the Raptors' up-to-the-minute plans call for hanging onto their amnesty clause for down-the-road usage. Calderon might have more than $20 million left on his deal through 2012-13, but he'd most likely be the Raptors' starting point guard if the season started tomorrow. So Toronto's not giving him away.

 

As for Kleiza and his three remaining seasons with the Raps at $4.6 million annually, Toronto will undoubtedly wait to see what sort of cap breaks teams get with injured players in the next labor deal before eating that contract. The Raps could well save a similar amount of money on Kleiza, who had knee surgery in February, through insurance mechanisms compared to the amnesty provision. Which means there's no obvious Raptor to be asked to head for the border.

 

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7147880/nba-most-likely-amnesty-candidates

 

I wouldn't use the clause on Kleiza, at least until he is given a shot to prove what he can do in healthy, because his contract really isn't that bad. It is a declining contract so the worst parts of the deal will have already passed by the time he even suits up for the Raptors again. Should his knee injuries prove to keep him out of the lineup permanently, it would wind up being a complete waste of the amnesty clause to use it on Kleiza as I'm sure a large portion of the contract would be covered by insurance.

 

As for Calderon, I'm undecided. If the Raptors had any sort of reliable point guard I would immediately be all for giving him the boot, but with only Jerryd Bayless, who has proven to be more of a combo guard than point guard, on the roster his floor game may be needed, especially with such a young team around him. O

 

n the other hand, he is due to make over $20M to play like a 2nd string point guard and he has gotten worse each of the past 3 seasons. His contract is definitely a turn off.

 

Ultimately, I don't think I would use it on Calderon simply because of the flexibility that the Raptors currently have, even with him on the books. With no big name free agents likely to come to Toronto, there really isn't a need to create as much cap space as possible, so you might as well just ride out the duration of his contract, or save the clause for later should it prove more beneficial to use.