Jamal Crawford has been known to deliver; and should things pull through, he could be a valuable addition to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Crawford has been widely regarded as a scorer for most of his career. Last season, however, his role (and production) was far different.
After spending most of his career starting for teams which include the Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, New York Knicks, Portland Trailblazers, and the Golden State Warriors, Crawford found himself coming off the bench.
And as one would suspect, his role and exposure diminished.
Still and all, he can hone that role with the Cavaliers. Although he may not get to start if Kyrie Irving is around, the fact remains that he could perfectly fit into the backup, scoring chores of the second unit when the starting five needs a breather.
In the event that Irving is indisposed, Crawford could take on the starting role and show Dan Gilbert and David Blatt what he can do. That should take a big load off Lebron James who has to carry the Cavs throughout the NBA Finals with Kevin Love and Irving nursing injuries.
But can the Cavs afford him?
After ridding themselves of Brendan Haywood's heavy contract, they certainly can. Crawford is set to earn $5.7 million next season so that amount is certainly within range. But signing up Crawford could depend on a few things.
One is that the Cavs have yet to resolve the Tristan Thompson situation and get a final verdict on what to do with J.R. Smith.
Thompson is expected to be back while Smith's case is a big complication due to his large contract.
Then again, the Cavs could opt to bring back Thompson and see if they have enough salary space to sign Crawford. But what about the others like Matthew Dellavedova, Iman Shumpert, and Mo Williams?
Well, if not for the two-guard position, maybe Crawford could be bumped to small forward.
All these, of course, are possibilities; but the idea of having Crawford could depend on what the Cavs are looking at in terms of the type of game they intend to play next season.
