Posted on 05 June 2008 by Raps Fan
Just a quick note from our boys at The Hoop Doctors, word on the street is that the Raptors and Knicks are having preliminary talks about Jamal Crawford. One can only assume the main piece going back is TJ Ford (maybe Jose?). Stay tuned as they break the story.
Technorati Tags: Jamal Crawford, Jose Calderon, New York Knicks, TJ Ford, Trade Rumours
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[...] know its slow when blogs are reporting trade rumours started by other blogs. Jamal Crawford would be a nice addition but something tells me his 40% FG [...]
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June 6th, 2008 at 8:41 am
I don’t see crawford running well in the raps system.. just my opinion…
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June 6th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Just what we need another a guy with the body of a pointgaurd playing shooting gaurd.
June 6th, 2008 at 9:47 am
first off, if you visit the hoopsdoctor story- notice what the rumour mill is spinning- Rip Hamilton to Toronto- did that rumour start here?
regarding Crawford
I love this deal if it actually happens. Many of you dont know this but the first email I ever sent raptorstalk.com was a discussion of why Crawford plus a big for TJ Ford plus expirings made a lot of sense for both teams. FYI- I sent this message to rapsfan the day Dantono was named head coach of NY.
heres the email:
now that Dantoni’s in NYC- Donnie Walsh is going to do 3 things:
a) get a fast- nash like pg
b) clear cap space for free agents (cause everyone wants to play for Dantoni)
c) get rid of any non-Dantoni players
so heres the deal:
TJ Ford (answers part A)
Rasho (answers part B)
Joey Graham and Maceo Baston (young, cheap, and could be part C)
for:
Eddie Curry and Jamal Crawford (answers part A,B, and C) + deals with Toronto’s
3 biggest issues:
a) getting a big body to deal with Superman
b) getting a slashing 2 guard (so Anthony Parker can come off the bench)
c) getting some scoring to help ease the load on Bosh (both guys are
15-20ppgs/night)
thoughts?
June 6th, 2008 at 10:37 am
i have to agree with steve, i like crawford on the raptors, he would take a lot of the offensive burden off bosh, and he can create his own scoring opps…can’t have enough of those guys on your bench. the only thing i’m not crazy about is getting curry. he is in the $11mill/year range till 2011…don’t think he is worth that kind of money personally.
as for the rip trade, those guys might have broke the rumour, they seem to be well connected (read the interview with ‘the professor’).
June 6th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
who cares who said it first, lets just see it happen! Rip to Toronto. and by the way (does this now give more credibility to my JO to Toronto rumors?)
June 6th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
you are a rumour g*d brother…JO to toronto…not so sure. his contract is a lot to swallow, but it could be a major asset when it is expiring as a trading chip, or to clear cap space.
June 6th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
This is very interesting. I am not a big fan of Eddie C. and Jamal, I’m for for that. It would make sense for the NYK to clear cap space for 2010, when the King James sweepstakes begins. If only he would come to T.O… I just made myself laugh. A Fan can dream, can’t he?
June 7th, 2008 at 1:12 am
yea, lebron and bosh would be sick!
it will never happen, IF he leaves cleveland, it will be to LA, NY or CHI….big market places only.
i’d rather have JO then curry personally. curry bugs me…for a big guy, he doesn’t grab enough boards or block enough shots. pretty decent in the post though.
June 9th, 2008 at 11:10 am
I’ve always liked Crawford. the guy is a pure scorer and gives the raps that second option at the 2 guard. I’m a little hesitant about Curry, but maybe a change of scenerio would do the guy some good. Rapsfan is right he doesnt rebound or block shots like a C, but he has low post moves, which would make it really hard for teams to double Bosh downlow. It must suck being a KNick over the past couple seasons…why would you get excited about playing for a team that licks balls.
I just hope that Calderon isnt going the other way in this trade. I love the guy and know he’s going to be a great PG, plus having to play the Knicks 4 times a year with Calderon would blow. TJ would light us up too.
the only way this trade is going down is if the raps take a big contact (Curry), but the KNicks would have to make some moves at the guard position. Marbury should be bought out and they’ll need to draft a combo guard like OJ Mayo or Eric Gordon.
June 9th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
… Long post here …
Assuming for now it’s a straight sway between Crawford-Ford.
Neither Crawford or Calderon are good enough to be the best perimeter player on a title winning side.
For the Raptors to contend for a title with one of those two as their best perimeter players Chris Bosh would need to become Shaquille O Neal Part Two. That ain’t going to happen. And still, even with Bosh rising to that level there would be huge doubts over their chances. Do LA win any of those rings without Kobe?
That means they’d (Crawford and Calderon) be the 3rd and 4th best players on the roster going forward. That also means that the Raptors would need enough trade assets to acquire a top notch small forward who can both score and create with the basketball in his hands. That means you have 8-10mil apiece tied up in Calderon and Crawford, another max contract in Bosh, and another contract likely between 12mil-max contract for the small forward. According to Hoopshype the Raps currently have 30mil on the books for 09-10 season, add in Calderons 8-10mil and Bargnani’s 6mil option being called and you’re up around 44-46mil leaving 10-13mil in cap space depending on whether the cap rises. That means the Raptors could not spend their mid level exception this summer and that they could not take back any long term contracts before they acquire that top perimeter player.
Now add that top small forward with that cap space, now remember the interior that still needs re-inforcements, the bench that needs to be filled and Bargnani’s potential future contract … then you have a muddy picture. Lot of uncertainty.
So I don’t love it from the financial side but I could go along with it if I loved the basketball part. So let’s have a look at that.
From a pure basketball point of view …. How good a fit is Crawford?
He’s a below par defender. That would leave the starting backcourt with two below average defenders who frequently allow easy dribble penetration. That’ll put even more pressure on the Rap’s mediocre interior defense. I don’t think the defense can survive this. So now we’re talking about a below average perimeter defense, average interior defense, a perimeter group of players that have no flexibility (not like you can hide Crawford on a small forward to avoid Ray Allen killing him because of Crawford’s slight frame and weak D). Defensively I hate it.
Offensively Crawford is one of the most unreliable/unpredictable players in the league. You never know what he’s going to do when he touches the ball which makes him difficult to play alongside. His decision making is suspect. Crawford also likes to dominate the basketball which will be difficult between Calderon and Bosh, nevermind if the Raps acquire that neccessary creative top perimter player. I’ve always thought Crawford would work best in a Triangle offense where his potential movements are mapped out for him and the offense avoids him over-using the basketabll. Raptors don’t run that type of offense. Offensively I think Crawford is talented but not a great fit, at best he’d be an above average player offensively for the Raptors. I see Crawford being closer to the 16ppg mark for Toronto rather than the 21ppg mark he set last season in New York.
It’s also worth pointing out you’re not talking about a borderline all-star small forward like Peja Stojakovic or Richard Jefferson to fill that hole. Just imagine late in the fourth in the playoffs, who’s creating the offense when the team needs a bucket? Is that really going to beat a top title contender? The team will still need that All-Pro caliber wing who can create off the dribble for himself and his teammates. That’s a big ask.
I wouldn’t make a Crawford trade. I think his presence will cost the Raptors as many points defensively as he creates offensively, not just because of his weak defense but because the Raptors don’t have enough top notch defenders around him so he compounds an already present weak point for the team.
I also think his contract adds pressure to Colangelo finding an immediate top notch swingman over the next 12 months and if he fails during those 12 months, the Raptors will be in a scary position of mediocrity pinning all their hopes on Bargnani becoming a star to bail them out.
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June 9th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
I know I should know this, but when can trades start being made? draft day? when the finals are done?
June 9th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
very good points dave. for me, i’ve only really seen crawford play when he’s been lighting it up. haven’t caught any of his games when hes shooting 3-17, so i am biased.
in torontos system, and with bosh/calderon demanding the ball as much as they do, 16ppg sounds very reasonable. not exactly killer considering his lax defense. i never considered it fro that perspective.
the big thing for me is that the raptors need to make a change before the calderon situation gets messy. if they can avoid that, i don’t care who they bring in, as long as it satisfies one of their holes (scoring, defense, rebounding, call playing, garlic breath).
the length of crawford contract is worrisome for me. 10 million in 2011 is killer.
June 9th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Another thing about Crawford’s offense that worries me is how inefficient he is. He shots 41% this past season and is on 40% for his career. He’s a streak shooter from the perimeter. He’s never shot above 36% from three for a full season yet he jacks up 6 threes a night last season in NY, one season he took 7 three pointers a night.
It’s also worth pointing out that’s he’s unguardable off the dribble and can beat his man to rim any time he wants. Yet he only shoots 3.5 FTs a game. It’s because he falls in love with long contested jump shots and forgets about driving. It also shows how unintelligent he is and how suspect his decision making is. Then you add in those 2+ turnovers a night.
He’s in the Antoine Walker mold of inefficient scoring.
Crawford does also possess a very nice passing game, I have a lot of respect for that part of his game.
Oddly enough, I actually really like Jamal Crawford. He loves basketball and wants to be a good player. He’s very coachable and improves every year. He has some nice skills and there’s a lot of untapped potential in his game. There are many good things about him. I just don’t like his fit here in Toronto. I think he needs to go into a low-pressure environment to seriously work out the kinks in his game. I don’t think he’d be able to do that here in this type of an offense and while being asked to be shoulder a large scoring burden. That potential improvement … I can’t see him achieving that with the Raptors.
Daves last blog post..NBA Finals Thoughts: Interesting Stats
June 9th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Lets get Rip! I was reading the link to the Hoop Dr.s and they make a pretty good argument for the Pistons wanting to trade away Rip. if they are looking to remake the team, then trading Rip for some expiring contracts and a roster player is a pretty good move. Rasho and TJ for Rip or something along those lines. personally i wouldnt trade RIp unless Kobe, Lebron or KG is coming in return, but Dumars wants to shake things up and you might as well send your leading scorer across the border