Jose Calderon Interested In Lakers

9:04pm: Kennedy tweets that he'd expect Calderon to join the Lakers if Howard decides to return to Los Angeles.

8:54pm: Hoopsworld's Alex Kennedy hears that Howard and Calderon are interested in playing together, and that Calderon may wait on Howard's decision before signing a contract. Kennedy also mentions that it wasn't a coincidence that rumors of Dwight going to Houston were subsequently followed by a rumor which speculated a Jeremy Lin for Calderon swap (Twitter links). 

7:40pm: Jabari A. Davis of Hoopsworld (via Twitter) hears that free-agent point guard Jose Calderon is interested in joining the Lakers, but is waiting to see if Dwight Howard re-signs with the team first. Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times tweets that Howard's decision could have an effect on Pau Gasol's future in L.A., which may ultimately affect Calderon's desire to join the team. Just over a year ago, the Spanish point guard – a potential candidate to be amnestied by the Raptors at the time – was reportedly excited at the prospect of playing with his former Olympic teammate on the Lakers.

Calderon, who ultimately decided not to sign with the Kings for the sake of avoiding a rebuilding situation, still plans to continue negotiating with other teams and hasn't ruled out a return to the Pistons. While one might find it puzzling that Calderon wouldn't consider Detroit a rebuilding team either, Matt Watson of SB Nation writes of the possibility that he might think that they're capable of reaching the playoffs next season. 

Looking at their point guard situation, the Lakers have Steve Nash and Steve Blake under contract next season and recently released Chris Duhon. With Nash having battled some injuries last year, it's not far-fetched to think that the Lakers would be mutually interested in Calderon at this point. However, with the team's options relegated to the mini-MLE and veteran's minimum contracts, it remains to be seen if the 31-year-old point guard (who made $10.5MM last season) would ultimately take a large pay cut considering this could be his final lucrative contract in the NBA, not to mention that the Lakers have many other free agents on their radar that may garner a portion or all of their mini-MLE. 

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