With an influx of second-unit talent arriving (and presumably a reduction in available shot attempts), it seems like former Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford hasn’t been all that pleased with the way the Clippers’ offseason has gone. Faced with the constant trade rumors surrounding his name all summer, and now looking at a diminished role off the bench to boot, Crawford has been openly skeptical about his future in Lob City. Responding to a fan’s Twitter question in July about whether he be staying a Clipper, the 35-year-old said that though he wishes he was, he wasn’t a free agent and that the fan would have to ask Clippers head coach and GM Doc Rivers.
"@ThatGuy_Sammie: @JCrossover sooo you gonna stay a clipper or join the cavs? ��"-I'm not a f/a, wish but I'm not.. Soo u gotta ask Doc…..
— Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) July 17, 2015
Well on Friday, Doc responded.
In an interview with Fred Roggin of The Beast 980 on Friday, Rivers commented on Crawford’s future with the team. “I’ve heard all the rumors about Jamal going other places,” he said. “Jamal’s a Clipper and I would be very surprised if he’s not a Clipper by the season’s end.”
When further pressed by Roggin who asked, “You’re planning on keeping him right now?” Rivers replied, “Yeah, absolutely.”
As President of Basketball Operations of the Clippers, Rivers is, after all, the one with final say over Crawford’s fate, so I would say he’s a pretty credible source.
But as for how Crawford fits in with the LAC roster next season, that’s an entirely different story. Last year, Crawford carried an atrocious Clippers second unit and was really the only fairly consistent contributor on the team outside of the starting five. But with the offseason additions of Lance Stephenson, Josh Smith, and Paul Pierce (who as of yesterday, is being considered by the Clippers in a bench role) as well as the re-signing of Austin Rivers, the team’s newfound depth has rendered Crawford almost expendable.
Almost all of the aforementioned players, Crawford especially, largely need the ball in their hands to be able to succeed. Cut back on Crawford’s touches and you’ll still have his same problems of inefficiency but without the scoring output to be able to justify that inefficiency. As he ages and faces stiffer competition for minutes around him (especially since he might be a worse defender than any of those guys, including the 37-year-old Pierce), J-Crossover just doesn’t seem like a good fit for the Clippers roster as it’s currently constructed anymore.
Perhaps Doc will be able to figure out the shot distributions and the rotations as he fields a new-look Clippers team heading into 2015-16. But perhaps he’ll do a complete 180 after realizing that trying to get Crawford to fit in with this roster is like the proverbial “square peg in a round hole.” Doc is already dealing with some other internal conflicts this summer, and the Crawford Conundrum is another potential headache for him. Does Rivers cut his losses and see what kind of return he can get for a coveted instant-offense piece like Crawford at the deadline? Or does he stick to his guns and find a way to somehow make this work? Only time will tell.
H/T CBS Sports
