NBA Rumors: Jamal Crawford Wouldn't Push Timberwolves into Postseason

The Minnesota Timberwolves are making a playoff push that no one saw coming, and there is talk of them going after Jamal Crawford to put them over the top in the Western Conference. 

According to Alex Kennedy of Hoops World, the Timberwolves are doing everything in their power to add Crawford before the trade deadline:

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The Minnesota Timberwolves are making a strong push to acquire Jamal Crawford prior to the trade deadline, according to multiple sources.

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) March 6, 2012

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The resolve and determination of general manager David Kahn is admirable—he smells blood in the water and wants to attack. But he is looking in the wrong spots to improve the team.

Crawford is an offensive player—he averages 14.5 points, 3.9 assists and two rebounds per game—but the Timberwolves are already strong on offense. They are ninth in the NBA in points per game with 97.4 points per game and third with 44.4 rebounds per contest. 

Where they have struggled is on the defensive side of the ball. They are 20th in the NBA in points allowed, 15th in field-goal percentage and 14th in three-point percentage. Those numbers are not going to get them into the playoffs.

Perhaps there just isn't a strong contingent of defensive players available, or perhaps Kahn is trying to build a team that will allow Ricky Rubio to be the star he believes he can be.

Rubio has been very good since coming over, which is the biggest reason the Timberwolves are able to talk about making deals that will get them into playoff contention.

Crawford is not the answer that they are looking for, and if they do this deal it will still not be good enough to push them into the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.

This would be a deal just for the sake of making a deal, which is where young teams tend to get in trouble. Plus, we don't know what the Timberwolves would have to give up to land him.

Desperate teams back themselves into a corner, but there is a better way out than making a trade you don't have to in order to get where you want to go.

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