Amar'e Stoudemire could be limited to 20 minutes per night, sit out on back-to-back games
Amare Stoudemire will reportedly be limited to 20 minutes per game and play only once in back-to-back nights now that Andrea Bargnani has arrived. (NBA Photos/Getty Images)
The New York Knicks are trying to figure out how to use their $100 million forward next season now that the team has brought on seven footer Andrea Bargnani via trade with the Toronto Raptors.
According to a report Tuesday morning from Marc Berman of the New York Post, the Knicks are discussing the possibility of limiting Amar'e Stoudemire to 20 minutes per night and keeping him out for one of the two games in which the team plays on back-to-back nights. Last season, the Knicks played 18 back-to-back games, so the 30-year-old Stoudemire, who has $45 million and two years remaining on the $99.7 million contract he signed in 2010, would miss 18 games off the bat next season under this scenario.
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Stoudemire's agent, Happy Walters, told the Post that nothing has been decided but it's something the doctors have suggested. In any case, Stoudemire appears headed for another season in which his on-the-court value is limited.
“I don’t think anything has been decided. The doctors are still talking about that. But he’s not going to play a ton of minutes.’’
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Last season, Stoudemire played in 29 regular season games and was limited to 23 minutes per contest. He returned to the team in January after knee surgery and was told by the team's medical staff not to play more than 30 minutes per game and head coach Mike Woodson kept him to about 25 minutes per game. In March, Stoudemire played 30 minutes per game in two games over a stretch of four games in five nights and headed for another knee surgery.
Bargnani, who will make approximately $22 million over the next two seasons with the Knicks, played in 35 games last season. The former No. 1 overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft has averaged more than six rebounds per game only once in his career.
