Jamal Crawford Reportedly Plans to Sign 2-Year, $8.9M Contract with Timberwolves

Kelvin Kuo/Associated Press

One of the most prolific sixth men in NBA history is reportedly joining the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

According to Shams Charania of The Vertical, Jamal Crawford and the Timberwolves agreed to terms Saturday on a two-year deal worth $8.9 million.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Crawford also had mutual interest; however, Cleveland wasn't prepared to offer its full mid-level exception because of interest in bringing Turkish center Cedi Osman to the NBA, per Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com.

It's been a busy month for Crawford, who was traded by the Los Angeles Clippers to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal with the Denver Nuggets before he received a buyout and hit the open market Friday. 

He was clearly excited about this opportunity:

Now that the 37-year-old has cleared up his future and settled on a new home, he can continue to be one of the league's premier microwave scorers. 

A three-time Sixth Man of the Year, Crawford stuffed stat sheets on a regular basis last season with the Clippers. 

Appearing in all 82 games, he averaged 12.3 points on 41.3 percent shooting from the field and 36.0 percent from three. Those numbers were buoyed by proficiency on pull-up jumpers—shots he's become renowned for drilling from a variety of angles over the years. 

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According to NBA.com's player tracking data, pull-ups accounted for 59 percent of Crawford's total attempts last season, and he knocked them down at a 41.6 percent clip, including an impressive 37.7 percent from distance. 

Crawford also scored a solid 0.92 points per possession on isolations, which put him within striking distance of the marks posted by James Harden (0.97), Russell Westbrook (0.94) and LeBron James (0.97) last season. 

Now headed to the Timberwolves, Crawford should immediately be penciled in as a bench anchor for a team that was in need of scoring reinforcements off the pine. 

During the 2016-17 campaign, the Timberwolves ranked dead last with 22.8 bench points per game, and that number figured to hover in a similar range next season without Crawford. 

Prior to his arrival, the Timberwolves' primary bench contributors projected as Tyus Jones, Nemanja Bjelica and Taj Gibson.

Now it will be on the 17-year veteran to lift that unit up and help take some pressure off Andrew Wiggins, Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns as the Timberwolves aim for their first playoff berth since 2004. 

Stats courtesy of NBA.com.