Jamal Crawford was one of many caught by surprise by the Chris Paul trade prior to the start of free agency this offseason, a move that ultimately shook the West by its core and made most franchises respond by making aggressive acquisitions to follow.
The three-time Sixth Man of the Year admits he was somewhat blindsided by it, but knew the roster might look different when it came to its composition.
“I did feel somewhat blindsided,” Crawford told Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype. “I mean, we all knew this could potentially happen. We knew that it could be a very different team. Paul [Pierce] was retiring and we had so many free agents, from Blake [Griffin] to Chris to JJ [Redick] to Luc Mbah a Moute – that was four of our five starters. We knew that things might look different, but we didn’t think it would go to this magnitude and play out the way it did.”
The roster was bound to receive a lasting blow, but losing Paul was missing out on the maestro that orchestrated the Lob City offense for the past six seasons — forcing the team to make a swift change of direction.
“Four of the top five perimeter players are gone, they’re on different teams,” said Crawford. “Blake and DJ are still there, along with Wes Johnson and Austin Rivers, but I didn’t predict it playing out like this. But this is a business. That’s life in the NBA. You have to just roll with the punches and make the best out of every situation.”
Crawford was then part of a three-team trade that landed him with the Atlanta Hawks — one of his former teams from which he negotiated a buyout, consequently signing with the newly-stacked Minnesota Timberwolves.
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