With the number of COVID-19 cases in the NBA growing by the day, teams are looking all over to find stopgaps for their rosters. Several ex-NBA players could see themselves back in the league as injury replacements. One such player could be Jamal Crawford.
Despite being 41 years old, Crawford is a well-respected veteran and the league is seeing more and more players head into health and safety protocols by the day. He made it clear that he wants to be back in the NBA.
Obviously, Crawford's abilities are in serious question right now. He has never been known as a reliable playmaker or good defender. It would be nonsensical for him to improve greatly in one of those areas after turning 40. He has also never been a high-quality shooter from deep, as he is a career 34.8 percent shooter from beyond the arc for his career.
Still, the available options are not that great. Isaiah Thomas was snatched up by the Los Angeles Lakers and other teams are likely to add veterans to supplement their depth in these uncertain times. NBA teams may just seek veteran leadership when looking for temporary players, so Crawford would have plenty to offer there. But on the court, he would have to prove he can do more than score in isolation — or have huge scoring nights consistently — in order to garner serious playing time.
Although no NBA teams are guaranteed to call him up, Crawford will still be looking for his shot to cross up another pair of ankles.