For those who have been fortune enough to either play with or help coach Jose Calderon during 7-year NBA career, the one word you often hear used should not come as a shock: professional.
Regardless if he was running the show in Toronto, fending off annual trade rumors and now even during his early days in Detroit, Calderon remains a true pro since being traded to the Pistons back on January 30 — and this pro has stepped up.
Over the course of the five games that Calderon has played for Detroit, he has gone for 23 points and 10 assists against Milwaukee, scored 15 points in his 27-minute debut versus the Los Angeles Lakers and nearly notched another double-double in Monday’s loss to the New Orleans Hornets. Calderon finished with 13 points and 9 assists.
Oh, and he had four steals and four rebounds to round on the night. But the one question that comes to mind, however, is will Calderon stick it out in the Motor City?
“The whole summer last year I felt like a trade could happen,” Calderon told RealGM.com regarding his trade from Toronto.
“I knew I was an expiring contract and it could happen any time. But until it arrives, it’s kind of weird. Yeah, it’s in the back of your mind, but it’s tough to leave after never being traded before.”
“Yeah, I can for sure,” Calderon said when asked if he could see himself remaining in Detroit beyond this season. “At the end of the day, it’s an NBA team. I know everybody is asking me about that, but we’ll see what happens. Every door is going to be open. These guys are treating me great and let’s see how we finish the season. But yeah, for now I’d like to [stay].”
Leave it to Calderon to say all of the right things.
Just know a number of NBA teams will be knocking down his door to sign him to a new lucrative deal. Yet if you are Joe Dumars in Detroit, you figure out someway to get a deal done with Calderon’s camp.
Not only is he a consummate professional, but Calderon simply makes those around him better and that is exactly what the Pistons need in what seems to be a never- ending rebuilding project.
With a young core of Brandon Knight, Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond, Calderon is the prefect fit to help mature their games along the way.
“I’m here to help everybody try to get this team better and try to get everybody better. That’s what I try to do all the time and we can win more games good. I’m here for whatever they need me to do.”
What Detroit really needs from Jose Calderon is for him to sign a mutli-year deal with the Pistons after this season.
