New York Knicks Rumors: Jamal Crawford Would Be Perfect 6th Man in NYC

According to Ken Berger of CBS, Jamal Crawford, who just turned down the Indiana Pacers' offer, is now down to three teams. 

Those three teams are the Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings and New York Knicks. 

The New York Daily News points out that the Knicks can only offer Crawford their $2.5 million exception, so that poses a problem. But if New York can somehow find a way to land Crawford, he would serve as the perfect sixth man.

The $2.5 million probably won't reel in Crawford, but a sign-and-trade could get the job done and the Knicks should definitely focus their efforts on this.

Yes, the explosive scorer has been in New York before, and yes those years were far from perfect, but it certainly wasn't because of him. 

Crawford averaged over 20 points per game during his last full season with the Knicks, so it's clear he isn't scared by the bright lights of Madison Square Garden. 

You might also point out that New York already has a shooting guard in second-year man Landry Fields. Well, that's fine. Crawford has shown in Atlanta that he thrives as the sixth man. 

In two seasons, the 31-year-old played 155 games and didn't start one of them. He still managed to average over 16 points per game.

But would he actually be able to do that and fit in with the Knicks? 

Well, it helps that he's pretty much the exact opposite player of Fields.

Landry is in there to play solid defense, not make mistakes, hit the occasional three, rebound and not turn the ball over.

He's a smart player (imagine that, he went to Stanford) and he's almost the perfect role player. 

What makes a good sixth man a lot of the time is someone's ability to change the pace of the game. In this case, you have Landry Fields, who isn't in there to score at a high clip. Then the Knicks would be able to turn to the bench and bring in Jamal Crawford, who can be described in two words.

Instant offense. 

He doesn't necessarily play as much as defense as Mike D'Antoni would like, but he's the perfect complimentary player to Fields.

Crawford could even run the point if necessary, something the Knicks might need more of this season. 

So as the Knicks find themselves on the short list for Jamal Crawford, they need to find a way—any way—to sign the shooting guard.

He may not be your favorite player and he may be painful to watch at times, but he fits this lineup well.