Jamal Crawford is officially back in the NBA. After being without a team throughout the past year, the Brooklyn Nets reached out and signed the 19-year veteran to a deal.
The Nets are absolutely depleted with injuries, with stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant sitting out the return. But on top of them, DeAndre Jordan, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Taurean Prince all tested positive for the coronavirus.
That means that Jamal Crawford will have more than his fair share opportunities when the season returns in Orlando. Crawford may be 39 years old already, but he'll never be rid of his bucket-getter DNA.
Here are three (3) bold predictions on Crawford's time with the Brooklyn Nets:
Jamal will drop 30 at least once
Jamal Crawford gets buckets. Scoring has been his calling card for his entire career, and why he's still employed while pushing 40.
Before last season, the former sixth man of the year had a 16 year streak of seasons averaging double digit points per game. It would be no surprise for him to go en fuego on an unsuspecting team during the regular season.
With all the shots that are going to be available, Crawford is bound to light up the Disney World hoops at least once.
JC will be the Nets' third-leading scorer
This brings me to the second prediction, that Jamal Crawford will be the Nets' third-leading scorer.
Even without counting Kevin Durant, the Nets will be down three of their five leading scorers. The only ones left will be Joe Harris, who's more of a complementary player, and Caris LeVert, who's still relatively inexperienced.
Although he may still slot below those two, Jamal definitely falls too far behind. The rest of their roster is filled with defensive players or spot-up shooters that lack Crawford's dynamic scoring ability.
Iman Shumpert, Garrett Temple, Wilson Chandler, and Timothy Luwawu-Cabarrot aren't exactly a murderer's row for putting points on the board. Crawford might just be their third-best scorer by default, with an outside chance for second.
Crawford will win them a playoff game
Of course, this is contingent on the Nets actually making the playoffs. But with Bradley Beal reportedly missing the bubble return for the Washington Wizards, that makes it much easier for the Nets to retain their current playoff slot.
Brooklyn currently holds the 7th seed. If they can stumble into a few wins during the eight-game regular-season slate and keep their position, they may be able to face a non-Bucks opponent.
While the Nets will be clear underdogs for any match-up, they might be able to catch an opponent sleeping. If a game goes down to the wire, you'd better believe Jamal Crawford could be part of the closing five.
With Crawford being the clear-cut most experienced big-time scorer left on the team, he could catch fire at the right time and steal a playoff game from an Eastern Conference contender.
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