Marquee

Jamal Crawford is now a Portland Trail Blazer.  He was sick and tired of getting ousted from the playoffs by the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, and Miami Heat so he did the logical thing and evacuated their conference.  A brilliant chess move, if I say so myself.  The only way he can run into those teams now is if they meet in the Finals, and the thought of that is so ludicrous it makes you wonder what would possess Crawford to hop a plane to the Rose City in the first place.

Let me preface the rest of this column by saying how much joy and excitement the Jamal Crawford signing brings to this Blazers fan’s life.  Brandon Roy’s retirement left Portland without any Vinnie Johnson/ John Starks/ Ben Gordon type, explosive scorers who could single-handedly alter the course of a ball game with one of their five minute microwave streaks.   Plug in Jamal Crawford, and voila, problem solved.  If Brandon hadn’t retired Portland wouldn’t even have gone after Jamal, which means we have the Natural to thank for our latest, greatest acquisition.  True, Crawford isn’t an icon in town like Roy was, but statistically speaking, his feet are actually a little too large to fit into Brandon’s Nikes.  On top of that, he played in 76 regular season games last year, which means you get your money’s worth out of him as well.

Jamal Crawford’s decision to come to Portland is not a shocking one.  Free agents don’t just go where the money is.  They go where they’re needed and appreciated, like Red Cross nurses.

Portland is always one guy away from being a legitimate championship contender, and everybody wants to be that Phil Jackson (1991 and 2000), that Rasheed Wallace (2004), that Shaquille O’Neal (2006), that guy who just showed up out of nowhere after all the grunt work was done and all the pieces were in place, and give them that extra little push over the hill.  Yes Greg Oden, you could have been that guy, but you weren’t, and now and it is time for us to relocate you to Sam Bowieville.

We’re never at the top, but we’re consistency close enough to smell it (rancid).  Sure, we’ve got a lot of rain and a state income tax that doesn’t get a lot of millionaires drooling, but at least we’re not Detroit… or Cleveland.

Big markets attract egomaniacal stars.  Guys like Steve Nash, John Stockton and Kevin Durant don’t care where they play as long as their team is playing well.  Rip City is a great atmosphere for everyone involved, and NBA players know this.

Crawford isn’t a saint. He going to get more money and playing time than New York was offering him, and he’s going to win a lot more games than he would have in Sacramento (FYI, the 2002 Kings were the greatest small market team in the history of Western Civilization. Sorry 1990 Blazers/ 2003 Marlins).  That’s what makes his decision so wise.  He’s found balance, and he’s proven that small market teams will never die.  They might have longer slumps than the big boys, but they’ll always eventually come roaring back.

Jamal Crawford might not be a marquee free agent, and Portland might not be a marquee market, but they both seem very attracted to each, and that’s what matters most.