By Jonathan Lee
July 6, 2012

Jamaal Crawford Signing the Wrong Move for Clippers

The Clippers style themselves are real contenders not just with the Lakers in the Pacific Division, but with the Thunder, Spurs, and Heat for the NBA title.  Because of that they are out to win now, and to that end signed guard Jamal Crawford to a multi-year deal worth up to $25 million.  AccuScore’s computer however sees this as a negative rather than a positive.

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Crawford’s signing actually hurts the projection for Los Angeles’ other team by more than a game over the course of a full season.  The Clippers would still be clearly in playoff contention, but fall further behind the Lakers in the race for the Pacific Division.  Last season Crawford posted career lows in field goal percentage (38.4%), three-point percentage (30.8%), free throw attempts (3.4 per game), and second lowest assist rate.  This all occurred while he posted the highest usage rate of his career.

All in all, Crawford is a player in clear decline that dominates the basketball combined with highly questionable shot selection.  Call him the anti-Chris Paul.  The player Crawford is essentially replacing, Nick Young, signed a one-year deal with Philadelphia for $6 million.  While Crawford is a better player than Young, the years and money involved makes this a poor signing.

The player the Clippers should have targeted seriously was Ray Allen.  While it was not certain they could signed the veteran away from Boston it was reported that they did not even have any kind of serious discussions.  Maybe Allen and his camp clearly indicated he would not play in Los Angeles, but he would have been a much better fit for the team than Crawford.

Allen essentially would have had the exact opposite effect of Crawford boosting the projection for the Clippers by more than one game, and lifting them to homecourt advantage in the playoffs.  He is older, and more likely to break down, but is a much better shooter and truly fill a needed role.

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