NBA Rumors: Jamal Crawford Drawing Interest, Should Sign with Indiana Pacers

The Indiana Pacers came into the off season with an agenda, and slowly but surely, they are getting it done with a quality off season thus far.

By signing former New Orleans Hornets power forward David West to a deal a few days ago, the Pacers helped to address a glaring weakness in the starting lineup that was currently occupied by Tyler Hansbrough and Josh McRoberts. As athletic as McRoberts was and as inspiring as Hansbrough was in the postseason, neither of those players are a starter on a team that has larger dreams than just making it in as an eighth seed.

Instead, the team elected to sign West, who was fortunate enough to join the Pacers since his former team in New Orleans was imploding. West has been one of the league's most consistent players, and has done so thanks in part to solid work on defense, good footwork in the post, rebounding and one of the most consistent mid-range jumpers that you will see in the NBA today.

West is coming off another impressive season where he averaged 19 points on a near career high of 51 percent from the field while also grabbing eight caroms per. Impressive numbers from one of the draft picks of the historic 2003 draft, as he is sure to help stretch the floor and assist Danny Granger in the scoring department.

David fills out one of the league's more formidable frontcourts between himself, Granger and developing center Roy Hibbert, who made great strides last season. Filling out the back court will be a former teammate of West's in point guard Darren Collison and possibly Paul George at the two guard. Aside from that shooting guard position, the Pacers have a well-rounded starting lineup with a facilitator, perimeter threat, mid-range threat and post presence.

Why not add another perimeter threat while they're at it? The Pacers had a deal in February that would have brought in O.J. Mayo to become the next starting shooting guard, but saw that collapse at the last minute. Indiana continues to swap possible starters at shooting guard, with George, Brandon Rush and Dahntay Jones all playing the role of starter last season.

They might not have to look much further, as current free agent Jamal Crawford may just be on the move. The Pacers have already shown interest in the sharp shooter and have offered him a deal worth $10 million over a two year period. It's not too much of a lucrative salary, but Crawford would be given the start on one of the NBA's top up-and-coming teams while also playing a much more increased role where the team will expect him to drive as well as shoot.

Crawford didn't have the best of seasons last year, as he only averaged 14 points per while shooting 34 percent from deep, but is only two years removed from winning Sixth Man of the Year when he averaged 18 points while converting on two three-pointers per on 38 percent shooting from the field. Jamal would play a huge role on the Pacers, as he would to take some attention off of Granger while also providing the team with a slasher, which is currently unoccupied.

You may not see it much, but Crawford is actually one of the league's most talented drivers. He's extremely athletic, has the NBA's sickest crossover and is incredibly fast which all adds up to a talented slasher that can weave in and out of traffic if he commits more to it, instead of throwing up shots from the perimeter.

We're not saying that he should stop throwing up those shots, either, as he'd help make the Pacers one of the league's scariest teams from deep thanks in part to him and Granger feeding off of each others influence from beyond the arc. Along with Collison as well, the Pacers would become playoff contenders for years and would become one of the league's most dangerous teams.

The Pacers have always proven to be a wild card of a team. Even though they finished 37-45 last season, they always made sure to give the top teams in the league a fight, which includes wins over the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers. With Crawford joining the fray, the Pacers would become less of a wild card and more of sure thing to be reckoned with.

Indiana needs to take advantage of their division while it's recovering. Aside from the Bulls, who will continue to reign atop the division, the Pacers have to deal with an ailing Bucks team and two re-building squads in Cleveland and Detroit.

The time to begin leaving your mark on the Eastern Conference is now, and the Pacers will need to sign Crawford before the many other teams that are interested can get the chance.