Getty Could the Lakers end up signing Jamal Crawford?
The Los Angeles Lakers did not start out the season as they had anticipated.
After falling to the Paul George-less Los Angeles Clippers, 112-102, on opening night, one thing became clear — the Lakers are actually a step behind their crosstown rivals.
Despite the fact the Clippers were missing their second-best player and only had one star player — Kawhi Leonard — in the lineup, the Lakers couldn’t seem to match the intensity and energy brought by the Clippers.
While Kyle Kuzma’s absence certainly didn’t help matters, it did look as if the Lakers lacked that scoring creator outside of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. In fact, one veteran free agent guard — Jamal Crawford — pointed out that very flaw in the Lakers’ personnel following the game on Twitter.
Jamal Crawford Scored 51 Points in a Single Game Last Season
The 39-year-old Crawford remains a free agent despite scoring 51 points in a single game last season. The only other players in the NBA to accomplish such a feat last season are the following players: James Harden, Kemba Walker, Devin Booker, LaMarcus Aldridge, Giannis Antetkounmpo, Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.
Needless to say, Crawford is the only one of those players not on an NBA roster entering the 2019-20 season. The former Sixth Man of the Year winner acknowledged this fact on Twitter upon the start of the new NBA season.
Making that 51-point game even more impressive is the fact that he did it off of the bench — setting a record for most points scored by a bench player in NBA history. Furthermore, he became the oldest player in history to score 50-plus points in a game.
Crawford spent the 2018-19 season with the Phoenix Suns, scoring 7.9 points in 18.9 minutes per game while appearing in 64 contests.
The three-time Sixth Man of the Year winner holds career averages of 14.6 points per game on 41.0 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from beyond the arc across his 19 seasons.
Why The Lakers Could Use Jamal Crawford
While the pairing of Davis and James started out the night well for the Lakers, they quickly fizzled in the second half. After starting out the game 10-for-22 from the field combined in the first half, the Lakers’ star duo went just 5-of-18 in the second half. In other words, the normally efficient Davis and James went 15-of-40 from the field combined (37.5 percent).
Although Danny Green did explode in the game — he led the Lakers with 28 points — 18 of those came in the third quarter. And obviously, Green got most of his points from scoring opportunities created from James and Davis.
While the Lakers have plenty of battle-tested veterans on their roster, Crawford is right — the Lakers simply don’t have anyone outside of LBJ and AD that can create their own shot. If you bring Crawford into the mix on a veteran’s minimum deal, that issue is obviously solved.
The Lakers currently have 15 active players under contract, but remember, they have a disabled player exception due to the season-ending injury of DeMarcus Cousins. In other words, they basically have 14 non two-way players under contract.
While it’s obviously really early in the season, if the Lakers continue to have trouble scoring the basketball outside of their big two, just know this — Crawford is ready for that opportunity to suit up in the Purple and Gold.