Top Landing Spots for Jamal Crawford During NBA's Transaction Window

From June 23 to June 30, the NBA is providing all 30 teams an additional transaction window in which they can waive and sign players ahead of the league's restart in Orlando, Florida.

Jamal Crawford is one name bound to come up as a potential signee for one of the 22 teams heading back to play.

The 40-year-old guard ranks eighth in NBA history in threes made, 18th in games played and 54th in points scored. His 16 total seasons with at least 500 minutes and a double-digit scoring average rank 15th all-time, tied with Carmelo Anthony, Charles Barkley, Vince Carter and Dwyane Wade, among others.

Of course, Crawford hasn't posted an above-average box plus/minus since 2014-15, a campaign that was sandwiched between two of his three Sixth Man of the Year wins. But he did drop 51 in his last NBA appearance on April 9, 2019.

For a team in need of experience and a spark-plug scorer off the bench, Crawford could make some sense as a late-season addition.

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Marc Spears, a senior writer for The Undefeated, joins The Full 48 with Howard Beck for a phenomenal conversation about race, diversity and inclusion in NBA front offices and coaching staffs, the league in the post-George Floyd era, how the players can use their powerful platforms to speak about social injustice and police brutality, what fans can do to effect real change, and Marc's own personal experiences as a Black teen growing up in San Jose, California.

Orlando Magic

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Way back in November, about a month into this season, The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor reported that the Magic were using the trade market to look for scoring help.

At the time, they ranked 29th in points per 100 possessions, and they haven't shown much progress over time.

As the league prepares to enter the Disney World bubble, the Magic rank 24th in offensive rating. Evan Fournier and Mo Bamba are the only players on the team with above-average effective field-goal percentages.

Now, Crawford isn't exactly the picture of efficiency. He hasn't had an effective field-goal percentage over 50 since 2012-13. Over the course of his entire career, he's only scored more points on his attempts than a league-average shooter in four seasons.

But Orlando's current guard corps includes both Markelle Fultz and Michael Carter-Williams, two defense-first playmakers who struggle mightily from beyond the arc (both are below 30 percent from three this season).

Crawford's career 34.8 three-point percentage is slightly below average, but there's no question he can get hot from time to time.

This would likely be a small role for Crawford, though the contrast between him and either Fultz or MCW could catch defenses off-guard.

Philadelphia 76ers

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The Philadelphia 76ers have a pretty specific lineup combination that has yielded solid results this season.

When stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid play without Al Horford, the team is plus-5.3 points per 100 possessions (80th percentile). When all three are on the floor, Philly's net rating is minus-0.7.

So, it should come as little surprise that even before the shutdown, some started to speculate about the possibility of Horford coming off the bench. Such a move might boost a second unit whose plus-0.1 net rating is hovering around the middle of the league.

Supplementing it with the addition of Crawford might not hurt, either.

Horford has never been known as a superstar scorer, and his reputation continues to trend toward more of a playmaking 5. Pairing him with Crawford's shoot-first approach could work.

For a team as talented as the Sixers, though, it should be noted that Crawford would almost certainly have a limited role. But playing a change-of-pace guard for 10-15 minutes per game could keep defenses on their toes.

Phoenix Suns

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The Phoenix Suns were the last team to employ Crawford in the NBA. He averaged 18.9 minutes and 7.9 points across 64 appearances in 2018-19.

His overall contributions weren't great, though. That season, the Suns' net rating was 8.9 points per 100 possessions worse when Crawford was on the floor, and his field-goal attempts yielded 44.2 fewer points than those of an average shooter would have.

At this point in his career, he may provide more value by merely being around than he does by actually playing basketball.

Toward the end of 2018-19, Suns star Devin Booker said, "I'll take the skeleton of Jamal Crawford as long as he can talk to me."

That veteran leadership and ability to mentor Phoenix's young roster would be a nice boost for the restart. Plus, on-court contributions in a pinch shouldn't be ruled out.

Right now, Phoenix is 25th in bench points per 100 possessions. The team's overall minus-1.7 net rating ranks 20th despite the fact that it's plus-7.2 when Booker, Ricky Rubio and Deandre Ayton are on the floor.

If Crawford could just help the second unit stay within striking distance of opposing reserves, the starters might be able to carry the team to a few more wins.

Portland Trail Blazers

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The Portland Trail Blazers, one of the eight teams Crawford has played with during his career, have been rocked by injuries this season. 

Jusuf Nurkic has yet to play a single game. Zach Collins and Rodney Hood both went down early in the campaign. Altogether, the team is fifth in games missed due to injury, according to Man Games Lost.

What's more, recently acquired Trevor Ariza won't be available for the restart, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski: "Ariza has been involved in a custody case over his 12-year old son, and [his] mother's choice of granting a court-ordered one month visitation period during league's quarantine of teams in Orlando left Ariza to choose those parenting responsibilities over competing in restart."

For a team that ranks 28th in both bench points per 100 possessions and bench net rating, losing a key rotation cog won't be easy to overcome. 

Enter Crawford, who may not be the savior of Portland's playoff hopes but is certainly someone who can help in short bursts.

The Blazers are already set up to indulge one-on-one play from scoring guards. Head coach Terry Stotts has wisely turned plenty of possessions over to the improvisations of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.

While Crawford likely wouldn't leverage isolations into as many points as those stars do, he could at least offer some semblance of consistency when they're off the floor.

Unless otherwise noted, stats courtesy of NBA.com, PBPStats.com, Basketball Reference or Cleaning the Glass.