The New York Knicks will exercise their team option on Chauncey Billups' contract and keep the veteran point guard for the 2011-12 season for the price of $14.2 million, the team announced on Wednesday. The news was first reported Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. The Knicks had until Friday -- five days after New York's season ended -- to make it official.
Chauncey Billups To Be Retained By New York Knicks
Should the Knicks have opted to waive Billups, the team would be on the hook for just $3.7 million in '11-12. That would have saved the Knicks quite a bit of cap space, but left a gaping hole at point guard. The Knicks acquired Billups in the midseason Carmelo Anthony trade, sending free agent pick-up Raymond Felton to the Denver Nuggets.
The Knicks were swept out of the first round by the Boston Celtics as Billups as unavailable after injuring his knee in Game 1 and Amar'e Stoudemire struggled through back spasms suffered before Game 2. The Knicks desperately need backcourt depth and help at center, spots that could have been helped significantly by the cap space afforded by waiving Billups. But the depth at point guard in the free agency pool is shallow, and Billups' contract could be used in a major trade at the '11-12 deadline.
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