Knicks emerge as front runners for Jamal Crawford?

[god shammgod]

guys, crawford wouldn't be our starter. he is NOT a starter ... especially around this group. he is and would be the perfect 6th man for us. our bench scoring was a HUUUGE weakness last year. to the point where we would have to play amare and melo separately just to avoid having no scoring threat on the court when our bench came in. THAT'S what this move would be about. STOP penciling him in as a starter.

that being said, this would be a very good addition for us. completely different situation than when he was here before. this time, if he's cold, you yank him easily in favor of fields or shump. if he's hot, we win the game. easy.

You think he would come off the bench behind Shumpert/Fields?

no, mike will definitely start him. either at the 1 or 2.

[NoMoreThrees]

no. and here is why.

shumperts. Weaknesses: Lacks stability/discipline on the court ... Inconsistent … Not efficient at all ... Horrid shot-selection ... Liable to shoot at any time, even when being closely guarded ... Likes to shoot off the dribble on a good deal of his isolation possessions, despite only connecting on 20% of these attempts ... Shoots nearly 5 three pointers per game, despite only shooting 27.8% from behind the arc ... Will often go for the flashy play instead of the easy play, which can lead to unforced turnovers ... Very poor jump shooter, and hasn't shown any improvement in this area during his three-year career with Georgia Tech ... Needs the ball in his hands a lot to be effective on offense and he certainly won't have as many isolation opportunities at the next level ... Should look to take advantage of his size and strength more in the post, but has yet to add this dimension to his game ... Attitude has been questioned in the past, but to his credit he appears to have matured over the past year ...

Cutting and pasting a pre-draft report makes for a substantive post.

its better than just pretending the guy is an nba starter and superstar when hes played no minute in the nba. which alot on here do. craw is good. we got a team that got 4 years maybe to get a ring. u take craw over shumperts yesterday. we are tryin to win a ring. got no time to wait for three years to find out shumperts isnt all that good and isnt saving the team lol. if u throw in shumperts to the deal we can get craw 8 mils or something and he might take it. u do this if u can.

[MaseInYourFace]

Toney Douglas 24 MPG last season - 41.6% FG, 37% 3PT FG, 10.6 ppg, 3.0 apg

Jamal Crawford 30 MPG last season - 42.1% FG (career 41%), 34% 3PT FG (career 35%), 14.2 ppg, 32. apg

So, who do I take?

Oh yeah, I take the lesser of two evils - aka the guy who will at least play with some effort on defense.

Toney had a very good year considering he played hurt...

[DocZaius]

cannot be serious...

[Falstaffxx]

Cutting and pasting a pre-draft report makes for a substantive post.

its better than just pretending the guy is an nba starter and superstar when hes played no minute in the nba. which alot on here do. craw is good. we got a team that got 4 years maybe to get a ring. u take craw over shumperts yesterday. we are tryin to win a ring. got no time to wait for three years to find out shumperts isnt all that good and isnt saving the team lol. if u throw in shumperts to the deal we can get craw 8 mils or something and he might take it. u do this if u can.

Oh god. Yes. We have decided Shumpert is a superstar!

[NYK StateOfMind]

Please god don't let us TRADE TD23 for an AGING Crawford who has maybe 2-3 years left at the very most. We're about to see his DECLINE while the NBA watches an up and coming Toney Douglas!

We don't need Crawford as a 6th man off the bench, when we have TD23!

[Johnny Hoops]

I was very down on Jamal Crawford when we got rid of him the first time.

That said -- I think this would be a positive trade for us with current roster and short-term win-now (next 2-4 years) mentality.

Big difference would be that Crawford would be the 3rd option on this team and in all liklihood come off the bench. He's also -- probably matured after a few years away -- not that he was ever a bad guy.

Right now we have Melo and Amare but really NOT a lot of fire power after that -- Crawford would give us that POTENTIAL lightening in a bottle off the bench.

I also think Crawford would be a perfect guy to play along-side Shumpert because Shump could guard the SG with his size and Jamal could use his length to stay in front of opposing point guards -- and they could share the ball handling duties.

Lastly --- if we sign and trade --- it sounds like we might still have the 2.5M exemption left to add someone else --- WOW -- CRAZY.

[towelie]

This shortened offseason is absolutely nuts. I can't even wrap my head around what our team is going to look like in 2 weeks for opening day.

[HighRyzer83]

Why Dolan undoing what Walsh took 3 years to heal?

Dolan seems to be building a contender.

An expensive one, but he is building one.

Dolan is earning my respect little by little.

Can you honestly say Crawford is better than TD

[NBA Fan 1234]

Cutting and pasting a pre-draft report makes for a substantive post.

its better than just pretending the guy is an nba starter and superstar when hes played no minute in the nba. which alot on here do. craw is good. we got a team that got 4 years maybe to get a ring. u take craw over shumperts yesterday. we are tryin to win a ring. got no time to wait for three years to find out shumperts isnt all that good and isnt saving the team lol. if u throw in shumperts to the deal we can get craw 8 mils or something and he might take it. u do this if u can.

Oh god. Yes. We have decided Shumpert is a superstar!

Just ignore him...he's annoying as sh*t when it comes to him talking about rookies and posts crap like that all the time.

[GONYK]

Why Dolan undoing what Walsh took 3 years to heal?

Dolan seems to be building a contender.

An expensive one, but he is building one.

Dolan is earning my respect little by little.

Can you honestly say Crawford is better than TD

Douglas is a better defender and rebounder. That's it. What else does he have over Crawford?

[Johnny Hoops]

guys, crawford wouldn't be our starter. he is NOT a starter ... especially around this group. he is and would be the perfect 6th man for us. our bench scoring was a HUUUGE weakness last year. to the point where we would have to play amare and melo separately just to avoid having no scoring threat on the court when our bench came in. THAT'S what this move would be about. STOP penciling him in as a starter.

that being said, this would be a very good addition for us. completely different situation than when he was here before. this time, if he's cold, you yank him easily in favor of fields or shump. if he's hot, we win the game. easy.

You think he would come off the bench behind Shumpert/Fields?

Yes - I do.

Not because he can't score better then those guys but because bringing him off the bench gives us better balance and fire-power.

He came off the bench behind Bibby a year and a half ago --- I think and Bibby was no longer the better player. He won 6th man of year award last year --- I'd think he would come off the bench.

[Thugger HBC]

Why Dolan undoing what Walsh took 3 years to heal?

Dolan seems to be building a contender.

An expensive one, but he is building one.

Dolan is earning my respect little by little.

Can you honestly say Crawford is better than TD

I say Crawford would have a "role" here.

A contender has players with roles.

Tell me what "role" TD can fill?

[MaseInYourFace]

The thing with TD is he doesnt create his own shot with enough consistency to be a sixman. Hes not a point. Shump might be taking his role as defensive pest. Bibbys nudging him as the 3 point spark...fill in the blanks. I like toney but hes looking vulnerable.

[NYKNICKPLAYA]

It's hard to imagine Atlanta really wanting Balkman.

Douglas would do well in Atlanta, and Walker can maybe help a little, but will they take Balk?

Also, will Jamalls deal be a 1 yr deal or a long-term deal at 5 M per?

[Falstaffxx]

Douglas is a better defender and rebounder. That's it. What else does he have over Crawford?

I think Douglas may be a better shooter than Crawford this year. Crawford's percentages were down last year, and Douglas came close to matching him. And Douglas shot 46% in his rookie year, so I think Douglas can be more efficient than he was last year. Douglas hurt his percentage last year by taking too many ill-advised floaters.

[Falstaffxx]

Tell me what "role" TD can fill?

He should be able to fill any role Crawford can fill.

[Da_Mane_Man]

guys, crawford wouldn't be our starter. he is NOT a starter ... especially around this group. he is and would be the perfect 6th man for us. our bench scoring was a HUUUGE weakness last year. to the point where we would have to play amare and melo separately just to avoid having no scoring threat on the court when our bench came in. THAT'S what this move would be about. STOP penciling him in as a starter.

that being said, this would be a very good addition for us. completely different situation than when he was here before. this time, if he's cold, you yank him easily in favor of fields or shump. if he's hot, we win the game. easy.

You think he would come off the bench behind Shumpert/Fields?

Yes - I do.

Not because he can't score better then those guys but because bringing him off the bench gives us better balance and fire-power.

He came off the bench behind Bibby a year and a half ago --- I think and Bibby was no longer the better player. He won 6th man of year award last year --- I'd think he would come off the bench.

this.

this isn't nba 2k12. you need balance and you need bench scoring. with amare and melo handling all the scoring and shooting in the starting lineup, you need to balance that with a defender and ball mover at SG and C. crawford coming off the bench along with td (assuming we sign barea or b. diddy) would be a good look for us. we would be pretty complete.

[Johnny Hoops]

Why Dolan undoing what Walsh took 3 years to heal?

Dolan seems to be building a contender.

An expensive one, but he is building one.

Dolan is earning my respect little by little.

Can you honestly say Crawford is better than TD

I think the thing that kills Toney -- even though the Knicks haven't said it publicly is his lack of vision.

I realize his assists are on par with Crawford but when Toney plays with us the ball is in his hands all the time.

You put Craw on this squad with his ability to break people down off the dribble and his ability to see people and find guys like Amare/Chandler on alley oops and drop off passes and I think Jamal has the advantage --- especially if we are planning on replacing Toney with another true point.

Toney is a 1-2 in a point guards body --- Jamal is a 1-2 in a SG body. Knicks want a shooting guard and Jamal fits this team very well. Adds penetration, passing and scoring punch -- could make us very difficult to handle.

[Blue Ninja]

Douglas is a better defender and rebounder. That's it. What else does he have over Crawford?

Shooting, doesnt need ball in his hands, etc.