Winners and Losers of Jordan Crawford to Boston Celtics

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After an uneventful run up to trade deadline, some big news finally broke.

TNT reporter David Aldridge tweeted Thursday morning that the Washington Wizards would trade Jordan Crawford to the Boston Celtics.

The only other term known at that time was that Boston was not giving up rookie Fab Melo:

Wizards/Celts deal sending Jordan Crawford to Boston will not be for C Fab Melo, per source. Teams still working.

— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) February 21, 2013

Not long afterward, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweeted further terms of the deal. Surprisingly, all the Celtics gave up was the expiring contract of Leandro Barbosa, who is out for the season with an ACL tear anyway.

They also sent reserve center Jason Collins to Washington. Collins had been averaging just 1.2 points in his 10.3 minutes per game (per Wojnarowski).

It seems like a real coup for Boston that it not only retained its healthy 2012 draft pick, but also swapped a player who could no longer help the team this season. 

The Celtics get a solid scorer in Crawford, who is only in his third year. Doc Rivers could coach the young man up and give Boston a solid player at the 2 for years to come.

So, as we bask in the glory that is the trade deadline, let's pick the winners and losers of the Jordan Crawford trade.

Jordan Crawford: Winner

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Jordan Crawford is the only big winner in this deal and he's jumping for joy.

Any day you go from a 15-37 team like the Washington Wizards to the 28-26 Boston Celtics is a good day. Crawford will love donning the green and white for Beantown. 

Though Crawford had just 12 starts for the Wizards, he was still averaging 13.2 points per game in 26.2 minutes. 

But as Bradley Beal's play improved, Crawford's playing time decreased. His shot selection can also be a little puzzling at times, though that tends to happen when you're a young player on one of the worst teams in the NBA.

Paul Pierce should be able to help Crawford with the finer points of shooting, and Boston still gets a good young player who can learn under the tutelage of Doc Rivers. 

Defense will be one looming point of emphasis, but that is often merely a matter of effort and motivation. Being on a playoff team should help to ratchet up his D.

Crawford isn't just a scorer, either. The young man out of Xavier was averaging 3.7 assists per game for the Wizards.

Boston also gets a player who is signed through 2014, when he will become a restricted free agent.

Jason Terry: Loser

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With Crawford headed to Boston, Jason Terry will be sitting next to Doc Rivers on the bench a whole lot more.

Terry had been averaging 13.2 points per 36 minutes, which is more than serviceable, and he had been getting 28.1 minutes per game. Those numbers are set to go down.

Writer Shaun Powell tweeted about this possibility shortly after the trade was announced.

After a busy December (34.4 minutes per game), Terry's playing time fell off the table in January (22.2 MPG). It's worth noting that during December's heavy workload, Terry shot just 37.4 percent from the field.

With the Celtics adding a shooting guard who is 11 years Terry's junior, the veteran can take it easy for the rest of the season.

Bradley Beal: Winner

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Trading Jordan Crawford implies that Washington is very happy with the ability and potential of Bradley Beal.

The third overall pick in the 2012 draft has already started 40 games in his young career and he's averaging 13.5 points per game.

The Florida Gator looks to be one of the centerpieces for the Wizards going forward. Beal and John Wall could develop into an extremely formidable backcourt.

Courtney Lee: Loser

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Courtney Lee was somewhat of a wild card in Boston's plan for this season.

Since coming over from the Houston Rockets, Lee has seen his scoring average dip (from 11.4 to 7.8 points per game) and his minutes decrease (from 30.3 to 23.7 per game).

Lee did see an uptick in his playing time after Rajon Rondo went down, but the acquisition of Crawford figures to counteract that.

Garrett Temple: Winner

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Garrett Temple is an NBA journeyman. Since 2009, he has played for six different NBA teams. His current stint with the Wizards has been his longest with any team.

Even though he's averaging just 4.1 points in 19.8 minutes per game, the Crawford trade gives him more of a chance to prove himself.

This guy is just trying to secure a spot in the NBA, so this is a golden opportunity for him to spell Beal. We'll see what the young man out of LSU can do.

His 15 points in the Wizards' 98-90 win over the L.A. Clippers on Feb. 4 was certainly an encouraging sign. Temple also added three blocks and three steals in that game.

Fab Melo: Winner

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By the same principle that Jordan Crawford is a winner for going from a poor team to a marquee franchise, Fab Melo is also a winner by remaining in Boston.

Trade rumors had circulated linking Melo as the Celtics' trade chip for Crawford.

On Thursday morning, ESPN's Chris Broussard tweeted this:

With Fab Melo as the bait, Celtics looking to add perimeter scoring. Wizards' Jordan Crawford available @ on their radar

— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) February 21, 2013

Fortunately for Mr. Melo and the C's, Danny Ainge managed to extract Crawford for practically nothing.

The Celtics did well to retain Melo, the 22nd pick in the first round of last year's draft. Though Melo has played just 15 minutes for the Celtics this season, the Syracuse product is considered to have a very high upside.

Boston Celtics: Winner

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This is not an indictment of the Washington Wizards as the "losers" of this trade. We'll call it a draw for them. They receive an expiring contract and have no chance of making the playoffs this season anyway.

But the Boston Celtics won big with this deal. Danny Ainge didn't play baseball for very long, but he certainly hit a home run Thursday.

The Celtics get a young scorer in Jordan Crawford and retain a promising project in Fab Melo.

All they give up is the expiring contract of an injured player (Leandro Barbosa) and a minor role player (Jason Collins) who was averaging just over a point in 10 minutes per game.

This is certainly welcome news for Celtics fans.

This team has come together in the wake of Rajon Rondo's knee injury. It's worked its way back into the playoff hunt, and Crawford could help it achieve what was thought to be impossible a couple of months ago: winning the Atlantic Division.

 

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