Amar'e Stoudemire: Deadeye Dallas Veteran

It’s only a couple of months since Amar’e Stoudemire was laboring in New York on a contract worth $23.4 million; now though, he’s impressing with the Dallas Mavericks on a one-year deal worth $485,670. How does that even happen?

Well, the Knicks and Stoudemire negotiated a buyout of his contract back in mid February, during the time when the All-Star Game was taking center stage in the Big Apple.

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What’s most important to note is Stoudemire was the one to initiate the buyout discussions. Why would you want to leave New York City with multiple millions still on the table for you? The answer to that probably says more about Stoudemire’s current mindset and the stage of his career than anything else.

Having a better season than he had had for a number of years, it seems like Stoudemire felt that he still had something to offer a good team, and more than anything after a number of grim seasons in New York, he probably wanted to try winning again.

At 32 years old, this isn’t the Stat who thrived in the run and gun setting of Mike D’Antoni‘s “seven seconds or less” offense all those years ago in Phoenix. Put simply, Stoudemire just doesn’t have that athleticism any more.

What he does have though is years of experience at the highest level, and finally he seems to be using that to his advantage.

In the 20 games since his arrival in Dallas, Stoudemire has slotted straight into the sort of highly efficient offensive groove you’d hope for from a veteran big man.

Having shot better than 54 percent from the field this season with the Knicks, Stoudemire has come to the Mavericks and upped his percentage to better than 58 percent, a mark he previously hadn’t come close to for more than two years.

How has Stoudemire done that, very simply, he has reined in his shot attempts. On the season overall, Stoudemire has focused his shooting on his work in the paint, and the left side of the floor, areas where he has been traditionally strong.

He’s honed that in even further in his time with the Mavericks though. In total, Stoudemire has attempted 148 field goal attempts during his time with the Mavericks, and of them 103 of them have come from in and around the restricted area, where he is a 66 percent shooter.

How does that correlate offensively for Dallas? Well, in just 15 minutes per game off the bench Stoudemire is averaging 10.3 points. That’s good enough for an offensive rating of 103.9, as opposed to the Mavericks’ 101.4 for that same span.

In other words, since joining Dallas, the Mavs been 2.5 points better off per 100 possessions with Amar’e on the floor.

All of this sounds very promising for a guy who had been written off by many a couple of years ago, so what’s next for Stoudemire? According to Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk, Amar’e believes he has quite a lot more left to give:

“There’s a lot of basketball left. There’s a lot of high-level basketball left in me. I feel competitive. I have faith in my body, what I can do on a basketball court on a consistent basis.

“The next step should be the best step, because I want to make sure I leave the game on a high note. That’s the ultimate goal.”

With scoring this efficient, I’m sure there’ll be a demand for Stoudemire’s skills too.

Next: Should Devin Harris Get More Minutes?

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Amar’e Stoudemire: Deadeye Dallas Veteran

By Adam McGee | Apr 9, 2015

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