NBA Trade Rumors: New York Knicks Better Off Without Jamal Crawford

The New York Knicks have already made some drastic moves in the past two days...they need to stop while they're still ahead.

The New York Post is reporting that the Knicks are actively pursing a sign-and-trade deal with the Atlanta Hawks to secure shooting guard Jamal Crawford:

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The Knicks, Hawks and Warriors were in talks Sunday on a three-team sign-and-trade that would bring combo guard Jamal Crawford back to the club, according to an NBA source.

Although a source thought it had a better than 50-50 chance of happening, one person familiar with the Knicks thinking said they will not include guard Toney Douglas, a native of Atlanta, or Landry Fields in a Crawford package, which has damaged the chances of this going down.

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He is exactly the kind of player the Knicks don't need.

Crawford can be a scoring machine at times off the bench, but it comes at a price. He's a volume shooter who needs a lot of touches to be effective, which can be a problem as he owns a 41 percent career shooting percentage.

He has great 1-on-1 skills, but so do Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire.

The Knicks already signed free-agent guard Mike Bibby to the veteran's minimum on Sunday in order to keep the offense aggressive and constantly moving the ball around. Getting Crawford would severely damage that plan of action.

Crawford is familiar with New York, considering he played in Madison Square Garden for almost five years before getting shipped to Golden State in order for the Knicks to clear cap space for the legendary 2010 free-agent summit.

He played on the team from '04 through '09...also known as the dark ages in New York. He was part of the big issue that still hasn't been fixed (although the Tyson Chandler signing certainly helps): defense.

When Crawford was with the Knicks, the defense was routinely one of the worst in the league. I'm not going to place all the blame on one guy...but he certainly didn't help. He is worried about his stat line, and until they create a stat for diving for loose balls he isn't going to do it.

He is a nice player to have, but the Knicks can't afford a $5 million ballhog who potentially might ruffle the feathers of the two stars on the team.

With so many other free-agent guards available at a fraction of the price, the Knicks need to pass on this move and continue to focus on improving defensively.