The Celtics have a lot of needs. They really could use some size to help their horrible rebounding situation. I mean, imagine how different things would have been if they could have been at least an average rebounding team?
You can also say “imagine how different things would have been had they had a reliable scorer off the bench?” Which is why the Celtics are among the teams showing interest in Jamal Crawford:
The Portland Trail Blazers are fielding trade offers for guard Jamal Crawford and the Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Boston Celtics are among the teams actively pursuing the scoring specialist intensely, a league source tells CSNNW.com.
Other teams who have shown diminutive interest are the Los Angeles Clippers and the Phoenix Suns according to a person familiar with the situation.
Crawford CAN score.. there’s no doubt about that. But he made $5 million last year and he’s sure to be looking for AT LEAST that… and that’s working on the assumption that he’s opting out of his deal just to get the hell out of Portland. The more realistic belief should be that he wants more money, which immediately makes me want to pass on him.
Also, he’s not the most efficient scorer out there and, let’s face it, this Celtics offense is built around guys who can hit the shots they take. The C’s aren’t getting 100 shots up on a nightly basis. They’re lucky if they get 80 up sometimes. And no matter how you slice it, Crawford had his worst shooting seasons last year since his Chicago days. The ony thing that saves his advanced numbers is the 92.7% clip she shot from the line. The only time he shot worse from the field was his rookie year and he never shot worse from 3. And to top it off, he’s 32 years old and he’s probably looking for one more good contract before he really slides down the back side of his career. I just don’t like this equation for Boston.
Call me nuts, but if Boston is going to spend $5 million on a bench scorer, I still say that guy should be Ray Allen. Even if we assume he’s not here, I’d be less than thrilled about over-spending for volume scorer who is sketchy defensively.
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