NBA Free Agency: 5 playoff-bound teams that should pursue Jamal Crawford
Last week, we examined the 5 best available free agents at this point of the offseason. Figuring prominently at the top among those names was 3-time winner of the Sixth Man of the Year award Jamal Crawford.
There are a number of problems that would crop up if Crawford was signed to one of the more talented, championship-contending rosters in the league - chiefly, his inability to play NBA-level defense. At the age of 38, it is pretty clear that J-Smoove's best days are behind him, but if last season was any indication, it is that Crawford is still a wizard at manufacturing buckets in trying situations.
Let's take a look at the 5 playoff contenders who stand to benefit sizeably by adding him to their roster for the 2018-19 season:
#1 Utah Jazz
Dante Exum, Alec Burks and Raul Neto are the 4 backcourt players for the Jazz expected to shoulder the scoring burden coming off the bench. Their frontcourt depth chart comprises of Favors, Crowder, Royce O'Neale and Thabo Sefolosha.
This cursory glance at their roster informs me that none of them are capable of dropping 30 points on a night when Donovan Mitchell and Joe Ingles are both misfiring. For a team with aspirations of becoming a contender, having a microwave scorer coming off the bench has been nothing short of a necessity across the history of the league.
Even at the age of 38, Crawford still has nights when he can win games for his team on his own. Given the Jazz's cap situation, they can afford to sign him for the veteran's minimum.