NBA Rumors: Magic interested in Jamal Crawford
With the Orlando Magic having traded Victor Oladipo, they may want to use Jamal Crawford to replace him.
The 2016 NBA Free Agency period hasn’t started yet, but that hasn’t stopped the Orlando Magic from being active. They traded for power forward Serge Ibaka in a blockbuster deal on NBA Draft night. This sent Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova, and 2016 first round pick Domantas Sabonis to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Trading Oladipo left the Magic with a hole at shooting guard. They already roster Mario Hezonja and Evan Fournier, but both may be needed for minutes at small forward. So who could fill a spot in the wing rotation?
According to Sam Amick of USA Today, the Magic are “very interested” in signing Jamal Crawford.
The kind of free agency tidbits you can hear on the latest A to Z pod: After the Oladipo exit, Orlando is very interested in Jamal Crawford
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) June 28, 2016
At age 36, Crawford has still shown the ability to be a hot scorer off the bench. While his numbers have declined over the past few seasons, the 2000 draft pick can still play a role as a sixth or seventh man.
However, if the Magic are expecting him to fill starter minutes, it would make this fit curious. Crawford has shown to be effective coming off the bench since moving to this role in 2009. He is a streaky shooter, but can score in bunches when needed. This has led to three NBA Sixth Man of the Year awards, two of which have been with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Jamal Crawford’s free agent destination will be one to follow this offseason. He could impact the Magic or head to a contending team as a scorer off the bench, which is the role he has played for numerous years.
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