Cleveland Cavaliers Trade Rumors: Will Jamal Crawford be Playing with LeBron James Next Season?
Will Jamal Crawford be playing on the sixth team of his career next season? The reserve shooting guard is reportedly doubtful that he will be returning to the Los Angeles Clippers next season.
The Clippers currently have quite a few shooting guards with J.J. Redick and new addition, Lance Stephenson, and could be interested in using Crawford's partially guaranteed contract to entice other teams for a trade. Crawford is owed $5.7 million next season.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are rumored to be eyeing Crawford, who has played for five different teams in his long career. Crawford, the 2010 and 2014 NBA sixth man of the year, averaged 15.8 points off the bench during the regular season. The likelihood of Crawford leaving the Clippers increased during a Q&A Twitter session that he held with his fans last Tuesday.
One of the users asked him if he was still on the Clippers team and Crawford replied, "I think."
Last Friday, Crawford fueled the rumors even more when he tweeted that he wished he was a free agent. The fact that Crawford wants to be a free agent suggests that he would like to go to a team of his choosing as opposed to being traded to a random team, which means that the Clippers could indeed be shopping him.
"@ThatGuy_Sammie: @JCrossover sooo you gonna stay a clipper or join the cavs? ��"-I'm not a f/a, wish but I'm not.. Soo u gotta ask Doc.....
— Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) July 17, 2015
Clippers head coach Doc Rivers, however, dispelled the rumors that they have put Crawford on the trading block.
Rivers said during a conference call reported by the Los Angeles Times, "We like Jamal. Jamal does something that only several people do, Lou Williams, and a couple of more guys. Our job is to always improve our team, but we also respect and love what Jamal has done. The rumors about that is even crazy, but it is what it is, there's nothing we can do about it."
If the Cavaliers can pull of a trade, Crawford would provide more consistency for them off of the bench.
The Miami Heat are also reportedly in the mix for Crawford.
