NBA Rumors: Blazers Need Jamal Crawford Much More Than the Kings Do
The next 24 to 48 hours are going to be huge for the Portland Trail Blazers.
Portland needs to sign Jamal Crawford or risk being one of the worst offensive teams in the NBA and one that will more than likely miss the playoffs.
Right now Crawford is torn between signing with either the Blazers or the Sacramento Kings after his agent officially knocked the Knicks out of the chase.
Crawford already passed up a two-year, $10 million deal with the Pacers, so you can expect an all-out bidding war in the Pacific Northwest.
The Blazers have to win it.
The retirement of Brandon Roy is brutal. To have such a promising career derailed so quickly is tough to stomach. It’s going to be very difficult to replace him and Wesley Matthews surely can’t do it alone. New point guard Raymond Felton likes to speed up the tempo and run the fastbreak, but he can’t do it alone either.
The slow-footed Blazers, who were 24th in scoring last year, are not equipped for such. Marcus Campy and LaMarcus Aldridge are going to be laboring up and down the floor and Felton needs a wingman aside from Matthews.
Enter Crawford, who is one of the more explosive scorers in the league and is coming off a season in Atlanta where he averaged 14.2 points and 3.2 assists in 30 minutes of action. He would fit in perfectly and form a three-guard rotation that will make the Blazers much more of a scoring threat.
The Kings, on the other hand, are desperate for defense, something Crawford doesn’t know much about.
With the addition of Jimmer Fredette to go along with Tyreke Evans, Beno Udrih and Francisco Garcia, there isn’t any room for Crawford. The Kings need a big man that can defend, not another scoring guard. Bringing Crawford on board would severely impede the development of Jimmer.
The Blazers have had a rough offseason and pulling off this move would help them save face. They can certainly get back to the postseason with Crawford on board. Without him it’s much more of a toss-up.
