Free agent shooting guard Jamal Crawford met with Phoenix Suns general manager James Jones and head coach Igor Kokoskov on Friday, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7.
Crawford is an unrestricted free agent after declining his 2018-19 player-option with the Minnesota Timberwolves. In 80 regular season games with Timberwolves last year, Crawford averaged 10.3 points while shooting 41.5 percent from the field and 33.1 percent from 3-point range coming off the Minnesota bench.
Free agent guard Jamal Crawford is visiting with GM James Jones and coach Igor Kokoskov today.
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) October 12, 2018
Jamal Crawford is looking for a larger role this season, and that’s why he didn’t re-sign with the Timberwolves. The veteran scoring guard only played roughly 20 minutes a game with Minnesota, something he wasn’t expecting when he signed there in the summer of 2017.
Suns superstar guard Devin Booker underwent surgery to repair an injury to the fifth metacarpophalangeal joint in his right hand in early September. Booker could miss some of the early regular season games, so the Suns could be looking at Crawford as a viable replacement for the time being.
Crawford is a guy who can come off the bench and get buckets in a hurry. He’s got one of the best handles in NBA history and, even though he’s 38-years-old, can still score with the best of them. Crawford, however, is a poor defender, something the Suns don’t need since their team doesn’t have any stout defenders on the team currently.
It will be interesting to see if Crawford signs with the Suns. There were previous rumors stating that Crawford was garnering interest from the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers as well.
