Now That Melo Has Found A New Team It's Time For Someone To Step Up And Sign Jamal Crawford
Now that Melo has found his way to Portland, the best name on the market and someone who definitely has basketball left in the tank Jamal Crawford is as of right this second still sitting at home. It's a little confusing that a guy that did something like this just last season
still can't find an open spot on a roster. It's downright insulting because guess what, there are a lot of bench units that could use his services. At this stage of his career a team would use Crawford for his microwave offense and live with whatever he can give you on the defensive end. I was curious at what his market might be and who should at least give this dude the same sort of non-guaranteed deal Melo just got and here are some legit candidates that could use his services
Houston Rockets- 30th in bench scoring (24.9 ppg)
- without Eric Gordon for 6 weeks
OK so the Rockets will have to make some room in order to make this work, but I don't see the harm in making that happen. There are some end of bench guys you can live without if the return is a guy that can actually help your bench score. Now that number is a little misleading because the Rockets bench also plays the fewest minutes in the league, but that's sort of my point. Give your studs are guard a break and let Jamal Crawford get some shots up.
Los Angeles Lakers
- 19th in bench scoring (35.5 ppg)
LeBron loves veterans. Loves them. The Lakers bench doesn't exactly blow your socks off outside of Kyle Kuzma and you could make the case they are missing another dynamic scorer. It hasn't been Caruso and it sure as shit isn't KCP. If they had to cut someone in order to make this happen, maybe Giannis' brother or something?
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Miami Heat
- 7th in bench scoring (42.7 ppg)
Now this is interesting because as of this second the Heat actually have a roster spot open. This would be cool to see because I'd love to see Crawford on a team that actually looks like it might contend. They have some injuries and I think Crawford could step in and give them legit minutes, giving some veteran experience to the second/third units.
Golden State Warriors
- 11th in bench scoring (39.5 ppg)
I'm sorry, you cannot convince me that Jamal Crawford isn't a better option than what we are seeing the Warriors throw out there. And spare me the whole idea that Crawford doesn't match their timeline. Guess what, this is a throwaway season, at least give fans at the Chase Center the possibility they could see someone go off for 50. Honestly I am shocked this hasn't happened yet. Considering they have only 13 players with guaranteed deals, this has to happen.
Boston Celtics
- 28th in bench scoring (26.9 ppg)
As much as I'd love to see Brad get his hands on Crawford, it's not happening. Nobody to cut in order to make room. and the bench numbers are that low primarily because when the bench guys come in they know not to shoot other than Carsen Edwards. This would be fun but there's simply no way.
Oklahoma City Thunder
- 18th in bench scoring (36.2 ppg)
They have the space to make a move if they want, plus we'd get CP3/Crawford again which was fun back in the Lob City days. Plus I think it would do SGA some good to surround him with as many veterans as possible to help mold him into a bonafide stud.
Orlando Magic
- 24th in bench scoring (31.6 ppg)
The Magic bench certainly could use a shot in the arm, they barely score, they shoot 36/24% as a unit and they have some room to do something like this if they so choose. You tell me, do you think Crawford would be worse than what MCW is giving Orlando with his 4.7 points on 29/17% shooting? I'm going to guess no, no it would not. This is a tea that is trying to hold onto their currentl playoff spot and considering this team's offense is mostly garbage no matter what unit you look at, this is another no brainer destination in my opinion.
The overall point is, we're 5 weeks into the season, there are teams that have a glaring need for some bench scoring help, and we have a legit bucket getter sitting at home. That's just not right and maybe now that Melo broke the ice Jamal Crawford will soon follow. At the very least someone has to pick this dude up for the stretch run because as we've seen for years now the man can get hot in an instant and that can change a game which could impact seeding/potential playoff run for a contender. As someone who loves watching him play I'm going to need one of these teams to step up to the plate and make this happen.