At age 36, Jamal Crawford can still get buckets. He averaged 14 points a game last season, often running the second unit for the Clippers while Chris Paul rested. Crawford still has one of the best crossovers in the game, plus he can knock down pull-up jumpers (even if he is a bit streaky as a shooter).
However at age 36 he is showing declining efficiency and to say he doesn’t give a team much on defense is putting it kindly. How many teams would be interested in him?
A lot, it turns out. The newest is from Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times.
Jamal Crawford to talk with Clippers, New York, Orlando, Dallas, Miami when free agency starts, per source.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) June 29, 2016
The incomparable Dan Woike of the Orange County Register had even more details a couple days earlier.
Crawford, who does have a meeting scheduled with the Clippers, is also drawing interest from a number of teams in search of a scoring guard. Crawford is expected to receive interest from the New York Knicks, the Miami Heat, the Toronto Raptors, the Dallas Mavericks, the Orlando Magic and the Brooklyn Nets in addition to the Clippers.
Crawford made $5.7 million a year ago, he’s about to see a healthy raise. Welcome to the new economics of the NBA.
Doc Rivers has said he wants to keep the core of the Clippers together, so his interest shouldn’t be a surprise. None of these should be.
The questions with Crawford are how much — in this market he might well pull down an eight-figure salary — and for teams, the more pressing issue will be years. Is there a team willing to go more than two years fully guaranteed to secure his services?
Wherever he lands, the fans will love him. He’s an entertaining player to watch.