Big moves continue to be made throughout the NBA during free agency, but the Los Angeles Lakers have remained on the sideline so far. The Lakers have been talking with some players who could potentially be brought in and the newest name who could be added to the list is Jamal Crawford.
The Clippers, Nuggets, and Hawks are finalizing a trade that will send Paul Millsap to Denver and Danilo Gallinari to the Clippers. In that deal, Crawford would be sent to Atlanta, but he may not stay there.
According to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders the Hawks are expected to buy out Crawford, and the Lakers are one of many teams who would have interest:
Hawks expected to buy out Jamal Crawford, but nothing done yet. Warriors, Cavs, Wizards, Lakers, Pels expected to show interest in Crawford.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) July 4, 2017
The Lakers are looking for veteran players who provide shooting and/or defense to fill out their roster and Crawford fits the bill. While he is on the downside of his career now, he still averaged 12.3 points and shot 36 percent from three-point range for the Clippers last season.
At this stage of his career it would seem likely that Crawford would prefer to go to a team with a chance at winning a championship – something he has never done – but he has been in Los Angeles since 2012 so maybe he would like to remain there to finish out his career.
The Lakers have been linked to a number of veteran guards over the last couple of days, but still no move has been made. Most notably, there is reportedly mutual interest on a one-year deal with George Hill who spent last season with the Utah Jazz. Rajon Rondo and Dion Waiters have both also spoken to the Lakers since free agency began.