Jamal Crawford is reportedly an unhappy man with the Los Angeles Clippers these days and so a lot of NBA trade rumors have swirled around linking him to several teams that need a reliable Sixth Man off the bench. One of the latest speculations is the proposed one-on-one trade between him and Minnesota Timberwolves' veteran shooting guard Kevin Martin, who seemed to may have lost his place in the youthful squad.
Nekias Duncan of Today's Fastbreak suggested the Crawford-Martin exchange as one of three "trade ideas" for the 35-year-old disgruntled two-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year awardee.
If only to pacify Crawford's heart and give in to his request of getting out of the Clippers, then Doc Rivers has nothing to lose in acquiring Martin.
When it comes to offensive output, Crawford averaged 15.8 points in 26.6 minutes per game last season mainly as a substitute while Martin averaged 20.0 points in 33.4 mpg as a starter. Looking at these stats, and Martin's reported willingness to accept a bench player role, the proposal actually makes sense.
Slam Online reported that Crawford "was unhappy with the Clippers in offseason" primarily because of the influx of new recruits that Rivers had added to their already "loaded" lineup.
Los Angeles signed notable players Paul Pierce, Lance Stephenson, Josh Smith, and Wesley Johnson during the summer, all of whom Crawford believed can "handle the ball and make plays" which said to be made him confused about his role within the team.
"I just didn't know how it was going to fit," Crawford confessed. "You basically have five people in the second unit who can all handle the ball and make plays. There's only one basketball. How's this going to work?"
"I'm so far in. No matter what it is - touches, minutes - everyone's going to have to sacrifice something to go where we want to go. And I know that, whole-heartedly," he added.
Crawford would be a welcome addition to Sam Mitchell's squad as he has no problems about coming off the bench and lighting the scoreboard up anytime of the day. With the Wolves' plan to start Zach LaVine at shooting guard, Crawford would be a willing mentor behind him.