jordan crawford warriors trade (Photo: Layne Murdoch Jr./Getty Images)
The Golden State Warriors boast the best starting lineup in the NBA. However, the biggest criticism for the Warriors this season has been the lack of scoring from the bench.
To address this problem, the Warriors made a change. They acquired Jordan Crawford and MarShon Brooks from the Boston Celtics last Wednesday in a three-team trade.
Although Brooks is a solid player with lots of potential, Crawford is expected to have a larger role off the bench than Brooks.
In Crawford, they acquired a 6-foot-4 combo guard who is averaging 13.2 points and 5.5 assists per game this season. The Warriors acquired Crawford because of his scoring and his ability to handle the ball.
Crawford told Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle that he understands his role and is prepared to help this team.
Said Crawford: “I’m going to come in and provide a spark and try to maintain the same pace as the first unit. I’m going to get everybody shots and just play good basketball. … I’ll score when I can and get my teammates involved when I can. Whatever the moment of the game is and what it calls for, that’s what I’ll do.”
Andrew Bogut spoke to Jimmy Durkin of the San Jose Mercury News, and he seemed very pleased with the trade.
“He’s instant offense for us, and that’s why we made the trade,” Warriors center Andrew Bogut said of Crawford. “Our bench, love ’em or hate ’em, sometimes struggles to score for us. They battle defensively and rebound, but sometimes we need someone to score.”
Since joining the Warriors, Crawford has appeared in three games. In his first two games, he averaged 9.0 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field and 4-for-5 shooting from three in just 14.4 minutes per game.
In his third game last night, Crawford had just two points and three assists on 1-for-5 shooting. This poor shooting performance came against the tenacious defense of the Indiana Pacers though.
Crawford has already been able to make an impact off the bench without even knowing all the plays on offense.
Stephen Curry told Durkin before Monday’s game against the Indiana Pacers that he’s been impressed with Crawford’s production so far.
“He’s a scorer, he’s a playmaker,” Curry said. “He changed his role from what he was in Boston a week ago to now coming off the bench trying to give us a boost. He’s done a great job the last two games making shots, making plays. He’s getting more comfortable as we go along, but he’s shown why it’s such a good trade for us.”
As Curry said, Crawford will provide that scoring off the bench that they need, and he’ll take some of the defensive attention away from Harrison Barnes, which will only boost Barnes’ confidence.
Crawford is still learning the system, but once he gets more comfortable with the playbook, the defense, and his teammates, it seems as if he’ll be a great fit for this Warriors’ bench.
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