The Philadelphia 76ers need scoring help off the bench, but veteran free agent Jamal Crawford isn’t the answer the franchise needs.
Philadelphia 76ers general manager Elton Brand should be searching for ways to upgrade the club’s bench. It’s missing another sharpshooter and shot-creating point guard. Yet, despite veteran combo guard Jamal Crawford being available, Brand should seriously consider the pro’s and con’s of signing the three-time Sixth Man of the Year.
The point guard depth has been an area of weakness for the Sixers this season. Both Trey Burke and Raul Neto have played solid, but both have their flaws. Despite both having good levels of production, it wouldn’t hurt for the 76ers to look to upgrade the position. The questions becomes, is Crawford an upgrade over Burke or Neto?
Crawford will go down as one of the best reserves in NBA history. He has a career average of 14.6 points and 3.4 assists, while making 41.0 percent of his field goals and 34.0 percent of his 3-pointers.
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Sadly like many other players before him, “Father Time” caught up to Crawford last season when he was a member of the Phoenix Suns. Last year, he averaged 7.9 points and 3.6 assists, while converting just 39.7 percent of his shots from the floor and 33.2 percent of his attempts from deep.
Crawford was never a good defender, even in his prime, but last season he posted the worst Defensive Rating per 100 Possessions of his career at 119. Based on last year’s production, because he hasn’t played for a team this season, Crawford has become an inefficient scorer with major defensive issues.
This season, both Burke and Neto have been more efficient scorers and ball handlers than Crawford was last year. The graphic below should prove that.
| Rk | Player | Season | Age | G | GS | MP | FG% | 3P% | 2P% | eFG% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trey Burke | 2019-20 | 27 | 14 | 0 | 14.7 | .450 | .458 | .446 | .519 | .727 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 6.5 |
| 2 | Jamal Crawford | 2018-19 | 38 | 64 | 0 | 18.9 | .397 | .332 | .453 | .474 | .845 | 1.3 | 3.6 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 7.9 |
| 3 | Raul Neto | 2019-20 | 27 | 28 | 2 | 11.6 | .489 | .457 | .509 | .578 | .750 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 3.9 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/27/2019.
On top of that, Crawford was more of a defensive liability last season than Burke and Neto are this year, according to their Defensive Ratings per 100 Possessions stats. Crawford isn’t an upgrade over Burke or Neto at the moment.
Does that mean that Crawford couldn’t provide any value at all? No, he could still be a nice end of the bench type of player on the right team. He scored 51 points in a single game for the Suns last year. However, the Sixers aren’t the right team at the moment. They would need to trade away a young player to make a roster spot for him and the 76ers shouldn’t do that for a 39-year-old.
Crawford should be on the team’s radar in case they have a roster spot open up later this season due to them executing multi-player trade. In the event he does join, he shouldn’t have a regular role for reasons listed above. However, as Philly’s roster is currently constructed, adding him wouldn’t be in the best interest of the franchise.
It’s hard to comprehend that Crawford has gotten to this point in his career. However, at 39-years-old him losing a step or two should be expected. Hopefully, he get another chance to play in the NBA, but it shouldn’t be with the Philadelphia 76ers at this point in time.