NBA Free Agents 2011: Should the Portland Trail Blazers Pursue Jamal Crawford?

In a recent tweet, Portland Trail Blazers forward and team cornerstone LaMarcus Aldridge revealed his desire for his buddy Jamal Crawford to come and play for the Blazers.  You can find a copy of the tweet here.  In essence, Aldridge is trying to get fan support behind a push that would entice management to bring the veteran guard Crawford to Portland once the lockout is over.

Whether or not the tweet itself was ill-advised, or whether Aldridge was overstepping his bounds as a player by going public with his apparent desire for a new teammate, are topics for another story.  What's really interesting to consider is whether or not the Blazers would be better off going forward with Crawford in the fold.

Crawford is known, rightfully so, as a scorer.  He has averaged in double figures in points per game for ten straight seasons, and was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year just two seasons ago.  He has spent most of his career on bad teams but has also been a valuable contributor on the Atlanta Hawks teams of the past two years that have gone to the playoffs.

There have been times over the past couple years when the Blazers could have really used someone like Crawford on the roster.  The don't have many perimeter players who are able to consistently create their own shots, with the real exception of a healthy Roy and possibly Raymond Felton, and that is something Crawford excels at.

He is also a pretty good perimeter shooter.  However, he volume of shots that he would need to be effective would probably decrease the effectiveness of other Blazer players, especially Nicolas Batum and Wesley Matthews, who would be sharing time with him on the perimeter.  And this doesn't account for what it would do to Brandon Roy's playing time, not to mention hindering the development of young guards Nolan Smith and Elliot Williams.

Crawford will probably command a pretty decent salary coming out of the lockout, and I'm not sure the Blazers would be wise to take on that kind of financial obligation to a shooting guard who, while still able to put up points, will be 32 next year and entering his 13th NBA season.

Final Analysis: I say no, the Blazers should not pursue Crawford.  He's a good player, but they would likely have to pay too much to get him, and he's not the missing piece that would put the Blazers on the same level as the Heat, Celtics and every other team that will be competing for a title next season.

Even if the Blazers decide to use the amnesty clause on Brandon Roy, they shouldn't try and get Crawford.  He seems like a good guy, and would probably fit in well with the positive team culture that Portland wants to have, but when minutes and shots are scarce, even the most good natured players can be put on edge (see Brandon Roy). 

What this team really needs is for all of it's best players to be healthy for a season or two, but even if that never happens, having Crawford isn't likely to change the final result for the Blazers as currently constructed.