NBA Rumors: Signing With Minnesota Timberwolves A ‘Mistake,’ Says UFA Jamal Crawford
Jamal Crawford was one of the players the Minnesota Timberwolves added last summer to help them end their 13-year-old playoff drought. The Timberwolves succeeded in returning to the Western Conference Playoffs only to be embarrassed by the Houston Rockets in the first round. When the 2018 NBA offseason started, several veteran players expressed their disappointment over the team’s performance in the 2017-18 NBA season.
Timberwolves superstar Jimmy Butler was rumored to be frustrated with young teammates Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. He decided to reject the contract extension the Timberwolves offered, and as of now, multiple signs are pointing out that Butler will be leaving next summer as an unrestricted free agent. Meanwhile, Jamal Crawford managed to find his way out of Minnesota by declining his $4.5 million player option to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
In a recent interview with Percy Allen of the Seattle Times, Jamal Crawford said signing with the Timberwolves last summer was a “mistake.” The 38-year-old shooting guard said that he will prioritize “fit” over anything else in choosing his next team.
“Fit is first and foremost when I’m thinking about where I’ll play next,” said Crawford, who wants to play another 2-3 years. “Last year, I may have made the mistake of not thinking fit all the way through. You look at my career when the fit was right, I contributed on the court. … I know people that care for me want me to win (an NBA title), but I don’t know if my career will be defined by that.”
Jamal Crawford would be "honored" to play in Philadelphia, per @ScoopB https://t.co/C5a3wl66Da pic.twitter.com/rPct3QdKVv
— Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) August 11, 2018
It’s not a surprise why Jamal Crawford said such thing about the Timberwolves. He’s one of the players who’s complaining about the Timberwolves’ rotation during the 2017-18 NBA season. The huge drop in his numbers proved that he’s really a bad fit in Timberwolves Head Coach Tom Thibodeau’s system. In the 80 games he played last season, the former Sixth Man of the Year averaged 10.3 points, 2.3 assists, and 1.2 rebounds on 41.5 percent shooting from the field and 33.1 percent from beyond the arc.
As of now, Jamal Crawford is yet to find a team where he can maximize his effectiveness. But most people believe Crawford’s NBA career is far from being over. At 38, Crawford still has something left in his tank, and he could still be a reliable contributor off the bench. So far, the veteran shooting guard was linked to legitimate title contenders like the Houston Rockets and the reigning NBA champions, Golden State Warriors, but no official offer has been made.
