Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
One of the biggest debates going on in the Detroit Pistons camp during the offseason is whether or not the team should keep Jose Calderon. There’s pros and cons, but the bottom line will probably be what players the Pistons pick up in the draft and via free agency and how Calderon might fit in to it all.
Calderon actually played slightly better for the Pistons in 28 games than he did as a guard for the Toronto Raptors.
In 45 games for the Raptors, he averaged 28.3 minutes, 11.1 points, 7.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds. He started in all 28 games in which he appeared for the Pistons. Calderon averaged 11.6 points, 2.5 rebounds. 6.6 assists and in 31.7 minutes, he shot 52.7 percent from the floor and 52 percent in 3-pointers.
Those stats were virtually identical to his career average of 10.1 points and 7.2 assists per game.
Calderon missed the last two weeks of the regular season to injury. That factor may have cost him a shot at improving his stock with the Pistons.
Ironically, his best game was against the Raptors when he scored 19 points and had nine assists. But one game after this, Calderon was gone for the rest of the season with injury.
He’ll be 32 when the 2013-14 NBA season opens and Calderon may not fit in with the Pistons’ youth movement. But the man the Pistons hire as coach likely will want some veteran leadership and Calderon might be the guy for the job. It will all depend on who else the Pistons bring in during the offseason. The odds are that Calderon will sign on with another team. But the Pistons aren’t out of the running yet.
