Amar’e Stoudemire has declined the early termination option in his contract and will return to the New York Knicks next season, reports say. As a result, the 31 year-old, six-time All-Star will earn upwards of $23 million in 2014-2015.
The news comes courtesy of Comcast Sports Net’s Chris Haynes.
As most suspected, New York Knicks power forward Amar’e Stoudemire has declined to exercise his early termination option and will return to the Knicks for the 2014-15 season to finish out the final year of his five-year, $100 million deal, a league source informed CSNNW.com.
“He is opting in,” said the source that spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement has yet to be made. If he had chose to exercise his ETO, he would have become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Stoudemire’s decision is no surprise. He’s a shell of the player that signed a five-year, $100 million contract with New York during 2010’s free agency bonanza, and thus has every incentive to play out such a lucrative deal. Though Stoudemire remains a very effective offensive player, the money he’d have received on the open market pales in comparison to what he will from the Knicks in 2014-2015.
Stoudemire recently told The New York Post that he has aspirations of returning to All-Star form under the tutelage of newly appointed coach Derek Fisher.
“My goal is to return to the All-Star game and compete for a championship,” he said. “With the triangle offense, it’s probably the best situation for all of us.”
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