The 38-year-old veteran remains a free agent. Given the issues the New Orleans Pelicans have had shooting the 3 pointer, the veteran may be a viable option.
The New Orleans Pelicans need a three-point shooter. Jamal Crawford needs a team. Maybe the New Orleans Pelicans need Jamal Crawford. If the first two preseason games are any indication of things to come, then the Pelicans will struggle mightily from beyond the arc.
After an abysmal three-point shooting display against the Chicago Bulls on Sunday night where the team shot 33 percent from the field, the team looked in the mirror and said hold my beer as they followed up Monday night shooting a woeful 20 percent from long distance. Both shooting performances resulted in lopsided losses to two bottom of the barrel teams.
While it is true that two of the Pelicans best three-point shooters in Nikola Mirotic and Darius Miller were out both games nursing injuries, the fact is the Pelicans were a middle of the pack three-point shooting team last year with those two guys. The Pelicans were tied for 13th in the league in three-point shooting. The year before that they were 19th.
Simply put, in today’s NBA you have to be able to shoot the three ball consistently in order to be successful. The Golden State Warriors have proved so. And though no team can roll out the firepower the Warriors have, the only way to keep pace with them is to shoot a high percentage from the three-point line.
Enter Crawford. The three-time NBA Sixth man of the year averaged 10.3 points per game last season coming off the bench for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He is a career 35 percent three-point shooter and even boasts two seasons in his career where he shot 45 percent for the year beyond the line.
And here’s a little known fact. Crawford is fifth all time in 3 pointers made in NBA History. He has made over 2,100 three pointers in his career. You think the Pelicans couldn’t use that on their team?
Even more so is Crawford’s ability to create his own shot. For his career only 29 percent of his two point makes have been off an assist. That means Crawford is constantly creating his own shot off the dribble, something the Pelicans sorely lack coming off the bench.
Assuming Mirotic is healthy when the season begins and he is pegged alongside Anthony Davis to start games, who will be the long distance shooter off the bench when Julius Randle and AD are on the court together? Certainly Miller has shown to be capable, but he cannot create off the dribble. He has to be spoon fed the ball to be successful.
With Randle and Davis both commanding attention in the post, a guy like Crawford can stretch the floor and when the defense collapses, he can put the ball on the floor and dish off or shoot the mid-range. A guy like Crawford seems tailored made for the Pelicans.
Knowing this may be his last go around, who knows if Crawford has any interest in joining the Pelicans. But if he does, the signing could be as sweet as his three point shot.