Advertisement

Jose Calderon made a crisp $400,000 for two hours as a Warrior

Dan Devine
Senior NBA writer
Jose Calderon's hourly rate come-up floored prospective new teammate Dennis Schroder. (AP)
Jose Calderon’s hourly rate come-up floored prospective new teammate Dennis Schroder. (AP)

When Zaza Pachulia fell into the left knee of teammate Kevin Durant on Tuesday night, causing a Grade 2 sprain of the medial collateral ligament that will put him on the sideline for at least the next month, a lot of things changed for a lot of people. The Golden State Warriors must figure out how to adjust to life without one of the NBA’s best players. A number of teams, most notably the San Antonio Spurs, now have renewed hope of toppling the league-best Dubs and hoisting the O’Brien Trophy come season’s end. And Jose Calderon … well, he went from having a gig lined up to being out of luck.

[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball contest now | Free NBA Yahoo Cup entry]

After spending the last two seasons with the New York Knicks, the veteran point guard was swapped this past summer to the Chicago Bulls in the deal that landed Derrick Rose in Manhattan, and then flipped to the Los Angeles Lakers when Chicago needed to open up a roster spot to sign Dwyane Wade. The Spaniard spent the first half of the season in L.A., averaging 3.3 points, 2.1 assists and 1.7 rebounds in 12.2 minutes per game over 24 appearances, before working on a buyout and eventually being waived so that he could pursue more playing time with a team that had higher hopes of competing this season.

All signs pointed toward Calderon finding that opportunity with the Warriors … until KD went down, and Golden State’s sudden frontcourt scarcity trumped the need for an experienced third point guard. Before we knew what was happening, once-and-future Dub Matt Barnes was on his way back to the Bay, and Calderon was on the outside looking in.

Well, sort of.

Though they hadn’t yet completed the deal, the Warriors had committed to signing Calderon … so, in the interest of staying true to their word (and earning some good will with NBA players and their agents), they carried on as they’d promised, officially inking Calderon:

… before announcing two hours later that they’d waived him:

… to open the roster spot to sign Barnes:

Officially, Calderon was a member of the Warriors for all of two hours, but that was enough time for the team to make him an official jersey:

… and for Calderon to pocket a pretty nice chunk of change for his troubles:

… that allow Jose to go down as a true Warriors legend.

[Follow Ball Don’t Lie on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Tumblr]

As much of a bummer as it must have been to find out that his chances of joining a title contender had gone by the wayside, you’d imagine the lovely parting gift of fat stacks of cash softened the blow just a tad — especially considering, just a day later, Calderon appears to have found another suitor in line for a playoff berth:

All in all, a graceful dismount and friendly landing for everyone’s favorite ham farmer (not a euphemism) … although we wouldn’t blame Jose for not feeling completely safe in his spot until all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed, and he’s actually wearing his new jersey on the court at Philips Arena.

More NBA coverage:

– – – – – – –

Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!