Crawford May Be Traded While Knicks Continue to Wait for Superstars to Magically Appear

Man, I am already so sick of writing about the Knicks. Just wanted to get that out there. But today, Alan Hahn has a grim and/or amusing assessment of what’s going on with the backcourt in camp. Jamal Crawford has looked terrible, and since “somebody’s got to score at that position,” and Marbury’s played well ... I think you see where this is going. At least in the short-term.↵
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↵And while Hahn warns that this is by no means the final verdict on Crawford, and Marbury could very well throw it all away in seconds, he offers this new, kind of scary, thought on the team’s plans:↵↵⇥At $21.9 million, which the franchise decided not to eat just for the purposes of the “addition-by-subtraction” philosophy, Marbury is immovable. But Crawford, who has an opt-out after this season, does have some market value, especially for teams in need of scoring.↵↵The Knicks shouldn’t want to move Marbury, because $21.9 million is a hell of a lot of “addition-by-subtraction.” They have to want that cap space, so (as I’ve said) Stephon’s not going anywhere unless someone matches his expiring contract with other expiring contracts, which makes no sense. Now Crawford’s expendable, too? I guess if he’s not getting anything done, the Knicks won’t much want him to stick around, while other teams still see him as someone who can put up numbers. Though this is beginning to feel a little eerie, since past this season, that would leave pretty much no one to score -- except for a rejuvenated Quentin Richardson, maybe?↵
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The Bergen Record has some insight into Crawford’s problem:↵↵⇥“Shots come in D’Antoni’s offense far more via the pass than the dribble, meaning all the recipient has to do is catch and shoot — which Richardson (15 points) and Robinson (26) spent most of their Monday doing as the Knicks shot 12-for-25 overall from long range. Meanwhile, in his four previous Knicks’ seasons, Crawford demonstrated far more proficiency at creating his own shot off the dribble, as many “conventional” NBA offenses allow.↵↵I don’t see why D’Antoni just can’t close his eyes and pretend he’s got a slightly older Barbosa on his hand. Or the reincarnation of Joe Johnson he never got. Maybe I’m too much of a Crawford sympathizer, but it’s always seemed to me that he’d offered a glimmer of determination, and leadership, in some of the Knicks’ darkest hours -- even if he’s far from perfect as a player. This just doesn’t seem like particularly constructive or creative use of what he’s got. If the team goes this way, it’s like they too are resigned to waiting ‘round for some D’Antoni-friendly superstars to just parachute in.↵