The Hawks will be the landing spot for Jose Calderon.
The veteran point guard has chosen Atlanta as his next stop, according to Marc
Stein of ESPN.com, and could be officially signed as early as Saturday.
Sources told ESPN.com that the Hawks have targeted Calderon to fill their final
open roster spot after the Spaniard had initially planned to join the Golden
State Warriors upon securing a buyout earlier this week from the Los Angeles
Lakers.
…
Golden State went ahead with the signing of Calderon on Wednesday, living up to
its promise, but waived the 35-year-old two hours later to ensure that Calderon
would retain playoff eligibility with his next team.
NBA rules dictate players must be waived by March 1 to remain playoff-eligible
with their next team.
The Hawks can either try to claim Calderon off waivers themselves Saturday at 5
p.m. and absorb the roughly $400,000 that Golden State owes him for the balance
of the season. Or they can choose to sign Calderon to a veteran minimum deal of
their own when he clears waivers.
After getting a buyout from the Lakers, the 35-year-old had originally planned
to join the Warriors. But when Kevin Durant went down with a knee injury Monday
at Washington, Golden State changed direction and signed forward Matt Barnes
instead.
The Warriors did Calderson a favor by signing and then waiving him on Wednesday,
ensuring that he would meet the March 1 NBA waiver deadline in order to be
eligible for the playoffs.