We Need to Talk About Jose
The Cleveland Cavaliers Might Have Found an Answer with Jose Calderon
Twenty-one wins and eight losses.
The above statement is Jose Calderon’s win-loss record as a starter for the Cleveland Cavaliers, a stat most, including myself, would be shocked to read. But before we can figure out why his winning percentage is 72%, let’s go back to how the situation came about.
Once Kyrie Irving shocked the basketball world by wanting to jump ship from the perennial Eastern Conference Champions, the Cavs have been trying desperately to find a player who can run the offense without LeBron James. Even though James spends $1.5 million on his body every year, it doesn’t mean he can be in charge of every offensive possession. The Cavs need him to have some juice to play defense as well.
The desperation mentioned above is vital here. Initially, when the Cavs traded Irving to the Boston Celtics for Isaiah Thomas and company (including the Celtics’ first-round draft pick), they thought they received a great ball handler to play alongside James. Thomas was the new Robin. Going by what Thomas accomplished in the 2016–17 season, you couldn’t blame the Cavs for the move. We all know what happened next. Thomas didn’t bounce back from his hip injury as planned, and the Cavs shipped him to the Los Angeles Lakers for combo guard Jordan Clarkson and big-man Larry Nance Jr. If the Lakers proposed the deal for I.T. in the off-season, Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge would have scoffed over the phone, but at the trade deadline, the Cavs’ maneuver was considered to be a great deal. It’s amazing how things can change so quickly.
Sure, Clarkson can play the point guard position, but he isn’t considered a playmaker by any means. He can score on anyone, but he has never averaged more than 3.3 assists per game. Anyway, the Cavs weren’t and aren’t planning on making Clarkson the starter. They also traded for George Hill from the Sacramento Kings in a three way deal with the Utah Jazz. Another guard like Clarkson who can play both the point and shooting positions, but lacks the offensive creativity the Cavs need. Hill is mostly a three and D. Nothing wrong with that, and he is a phenomenal addition to the club, but still, all the playmaking ability is on James’ broad shoulders.
Jose Calderon has been on the Cavaliers’ roster since the start of the season. He was signed while Kyrie Irving was still on the roster, and before the team signed Derrick Rose, the man destined to replace Calderon as the backup PG. Oh, the mighty have fallen, and Calderon is the only one of three remaining. We already know what happened to Irving (and Thomas), but D-Rose also got traded in the Sacramento Kings/Utah Jazz deal. Brand spanking new Cleveland Cavaliers General Manager Kolby Altman did an excellent job at the trade deadline, but the thought pattern was to get a bunch of young players who would listen to James and become a coherent group, something the older vets weren’t doing. They decided to fix the Robin problem not with one player, but with a combination of four: Rodney Hood, Nance Jr., Clarkson, and Hill.
Offensively, the Cavs have never really struggled this season. When you have James on the court (he has played in every game so far), the Cavs’ offense is always running at an optimum level. With great three-point shooters surrounding him, James drives like a locomotive to the rack, either scores because not many can stop him or dishes out to one of his locked and loaded marksmen. It’s a simple offense to run when you have the greatest player on Mother Earth. On the offensive end, the issue the Cavs have been having all season long is when James doesn’t take the ball up the court, there is no one else that can create even a fraction of offense. James needs to touch the ball on every possession. Meaning, a team that can’t play defense and can’t run an offense without James touching the ball, spells doom for the Cavs’ title chance.
Enter 36-year-old Calderon. Before the trade deadline, and when Rose’s injury in November, Calderon started twenty-two straight games for the Cavs. During this tenure, the Cavs went 17–5. Sure, Calderon was an even split between games he had a positive plus-minus in with 11, but Calderon has never been a great defender, and of course, that’s a factor when talking about plus-minus. Let’s just focus on offense and fast forward to the Cavs last three games.
Calderon has started in all three, and the Cavs have won all of them, They even beat the Eastern Conference-leading Toronto Raptors at full capacity without Nance Jr., Tristan Thompson, Kyle Korver or Hood. Calderon produced a +18 (highest of the season) against the Phoenix Suns during the Cavs current six-game win streak, in which Calderon has started in four.
Since coming into the NBA in 2005, Calderon has always been a great passer (6.0 assists per game) and three-point shooter. Though his stats aren’t lofty, he only averages 4.1 PPG and 2.1 APG, but it’s in just 15.7 minutes per game. Per 36 minutes, his averages of 9.4 PPG and 4.9 APG are much closer to his career averages. He is shooting 46.8% from a “densely populated urban area” (shout out to Watson). He has shot over 40% from three nine times in his career; we are seeing nothing new from deep.
Anyone with eyes knew Irving was not a great defender on the Cavs, technically he was one of the worst in the NBA, even though for Boston he has played a lot better on that side of the court. But like how Celtics head coach Brad Stevens hid Thomas on defense last season, Stevens has changed the way Irving plays D. The credit goes to Stevens more than Irving. Thus, Calderon doesn’t need to provide much defense to be as important as either Irving or Thomas. Because the Cavs knew they weren’t getting defense from the position with Thomas or Irving in the role. So, if the Cavs can get any defense out of Calderon, it’s a significant bonus. But what they will get out of Calderon is another player who can run the offense when James wants to take a breather.
Don’t get it twisted, Calderon is not in the same stratosphere as Irving. Irving is an absolute superstar, an under the basket maestro with the best handles in the game. A prime Calderon cannot replace 24.4 PPG, let alone a 36-year-old one. But what he can replace is the assists, and the basketball intelligence needed to run an offense for short periods of time when James decides to take an offensive possession off. Calderon is a very cerebral player, and that is why he is still in the Association. James and the Cavs can trust Calderon with the ball; he will usually make the right decisions. And when James is ready to unleash his potent style of offense, Calderon becomes one of the sharp-shooters James has waiting in the wings.
The Cavs were desperately trying to fill the void Irving left, but quite possibly part of the answer was right on the back end of their bench the whole time. The proof is in their record with Calderon as a starter.
