Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 leaders that need to step up

3. Jose Calderon

Careers often take weird turns for NBA players after turning 35. Shaquille O’Neal bounced around teams like a Plinko chip during his twilight years. Paul Pierce experienced awkward tenures in Washington and Los Angeles.

Few compare to the season of 36-year-old Jose Calderon. He’s backed up a platoon of point guards, from Isaiah Thomas to Derrick Rose and now George Hill. He started the year with regular playing time — 21 straight games with at least 14 minutes played between November and December.

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Then came only four games with more than five minutes between January and mid-March. After a plethora of Cavs injuries, Calderon played 36 minutes against the Bulls and appears to be back in the rotation.

Calderon and James may be the least bruised payers on the team and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Cleveland is 18-8 when Calderon starts and 21-10 when plays at least 10 minutes. That means they’re 19-19 when Calderon doesn’t play significant minutes.

You might be wondering how could Calderon be so valuable? His efficient field goal percentage is 62.6, eight full points higher than his career average. His assist-to-turnover ratio is better than 2:1 and Calderon’s actually been an effective creator. In other words, Calderon doesn’t make many mistakes.

More importantly, Calderon is as positive as they come and provides much needed leadership on a team of journeymen. That’s evident by the way he responded to questions from the media Saturday night.

It’s this type of contribution Cleveland will need during a crucial couple of weeks.