New York Knicks Rumors: Jamal Crawford Drawing Interest?

New York Knicks Rumors: Could the Knicks be bringing back a familiar face in former Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford? The Los Angeles Clippers are supposedly interested in moving him, and the Knicks are one of the teams that have inquired about him.

Could the New York Knicks be bringing back a familiar face? According to reports, the Knicks are one of a handful of teams inquiring about Los Angeles Clippers shooting guard and sixth man, Jamal Crawford.

The Knicks have expressed interest in acquiring Clippers guard Jamal Crawford, according to a source.
— Frank Isola (@TheFrankIsola) August 18, 2015

In other tweets, Isola also mentions that the Cleveland Cavaliers are interested in the combo guard as a fallback option on J.R. Smith. Smith opted out of his $6.4 million option this summer to pursue a longer deal, but that has not come to fruition. The Cavaliers are offering him a massive pay cut that he has yet to sign, but this late into the summer there isn’t much free agent money to be had.

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The other team mentioned as a landing spot for the former Sixth Man of the Year award winner is the Miami Heat. The Heat have been retooling their roster since Lebron James’ surprise exit last summer and could use a legitimate option behind Dwyane Wade. They have already added Gerald Green and Justise Winslow on the wings, so bringing in Crawford would give them another strong scoring option to bolster their bench.

The Heat have the easiest path salary wise to making a trade with the Clippers. They can offer Josh McRoberts, Chris Andersen or Mario Chalmers to make the salaries match up. But, the Clippers are interested in slashing salary, not adding it, as bringing on any of those players would essentially be a lateral move from a salary standpoint; Crawford is a free agent at the end of the season, so they can just hold onto him and get the cap space next summer if they really wanted to.

For the Knicks, bringing Crawford back would not only be a move fans would like, but something many high ranking officials would like to see as well. He has remained close with Madison Square Garden Chairman James Dolan, and is also well liked by general manager Steve Mills and Allan Houston and Isiah Thomas, whom Dolan brought back to be a part of the New York Liberty.

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It is unclear what the Clippers would be asking for in return for Crawford, as they have a logjam in their backcourt already. They could always use some help in the front court, but the Knicks do not have much to offer in that area as many of the players on their team cannot be traded until December because they were just signed as free agents in the recent weeks. Salary relief seems to be the most likely thing, as they already have Austin Rivers and Lance Stephenson on the bench to take up Crawford’s minutes with J.J. Redick in the starting lineup.

For a revamped Knicks team, Crawford will fill a very specific role; scoring the ball. It is what he does best, and is what the Knicks are looking for. Right now they have Carmelo Anthony and not much else offensively; Arron Afflalo is a solid complimentary piece, but they do not have a player to count on to consistently give them points in the mid-teens on a nightly basis and carry the scoring load when Anthony is resting. Even at 35-years old, Crawford is still capable of doing that.

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Last season he averaged 15.8 points in just 26.7 minutes per game. He offers little else in the way of production, but can run an offense if the Knicks are in a pinch. He would solidify a Knicks bench that will be relying on a lot of younger players, and give them a legitimate scoring option behind Anthony.

Crawford last played for the Knicks during the 2008-09 season, when Donnie Walsh traded him to the Golden State Warriors for Al Harrington to open up future cap space. He was originally acquired via trade from the Chicago Bulls prior to the 2004-05 season as one of the marquee moves by Thomas during his time overseeing the team.

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