Jamal Crawford looking forward to playing for the Los Angeles Clippers next season – NBA News
Jamal Crawford is excited about playing for the Los Angeles Clippers next season. After considering offers from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers, Crawford decided to head to Los Angeles to team up with Chris Paul,
Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
“When players of that caliber want you on their team you really have to sit down and look at that. Me and Chris talked for a while how good we could be,” said Crawford.
Crawford, a free agent point guard this offseason, signed with the Clippers for four years worth $21.7 million on Wednesday, when the moratorium was lifted. He opted out of his contract with the Portland Trail Blazers, worth $5.2
million, to become an unrestricted free agent.
In his only season with Portland this past year, Crawford averaged 13.9 points, 3.2 assists and 2 rebounds. He led the NBA in free throw percentage at 93%, which is one area where the Clippers wanted to improve.
“They actually wanted me and it feels good to be wanted. You definitely don't want to let anybody down who puts themselves on the line for you,” added Crawford.
Crawford is a 12 year veteran in the league, and had played for the Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks before moving to Portland. He was named to 6th man of the year in the 2009-2010 NBA season with
the Hawks.
The Clippers have added some good components to their roster in this year’s free agency. After reaching an agreement with Blake Griffin for a contract extension, the Clippers landed Lamar Odom from Dallas and signed Crawford to
the team. They also convinced Chauncey Billups to return for one more year, who managed only 20 games last season before he tore his left Achilles tendon in February. The veteran guard is a great player to come off the bench and will look to add value to the
team next season.
The Clippers were initially targeting unrestricted free agent Ray Allen but after landing Crawford and Billups, cancelled their meeting with him.
"We just had targeted Jamal. We weren't sure the direction Ray was going to go. Chauncey and Jamal have the same agent. We just felt like having Chauncey and Jamal was the best option,” said Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro.
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