Jamal Crawford helps Suns with addition of another ball handler, scorer

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns’ latest transaction was met with its fair share of criticism.

The team signed veteran guard Jamal Crawford to a one-year deal Wednesday, and to create the roster spot, released No. 32 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft Davon Reed.

Now, we are not here to debate the move, but it essentially boils down to the team taking a risk on releasing a potential long-term piece in the middle of the bench for someone who can help them this season.

The additional argument is Crawford, now in his 19th year, might not even aid the Suns all that much with what he has left.

As someone who can admit they were a bit thrown off by the move, watching the Suns on Wednesday in a 121-100 win over the Nuggets showed more as to why Crawford can be a useful piece for the Suns.

Phoenix needs capable ball handlers in head coach Igor Kokoskov’s system, not only to run his sets, but to make plays out of them when the opening is there or the player is put in a position to. They dug themselves in a deeper hole on this department by their current point guard rotation.

Crawford can do all of that to a T. Now, we aren’t going to touch on his defense, because let’s just admit that it is what it is at this stage of his career. It’s not a plus, but for a team simply trying to get a system down and be good at something, that’s fine for Phoenix to focus the roster more on one side of the floor for now.

The Suns brought in Crawford for the respect he holds around the league and his offensive ability, one that earned him three Sixth Man of the Year awards.

If you’re one of the few unfamiliar with Crawford’s offensive work, he can get hot in a hurry, and the reason that’s so deadly is because he can shoot off any scenario.

He’s picking the ball up off the dribble at any angle and launching without a millisecond of hesitation.

He lives in that mid-range area. Of his 870 field goal attempts last season, 177 of them came at the top of the key or the right wing inside the three-point line. These are “bad shots,” but Crawford shot 45.7 percent in those two zones.

That goes against the current trend of shots at the rim and threes, but take what the defense gives you.

To compensate for not being an efficient shooter around the rim at 10 percent below league average last year, Crawford was an outstanding 31-of-53 (58.5 percent) in short mid-range territory around the free-throw line.

While it’s a specialty zone that takes some a long time to master, it’s cash for Crawford at this point in his career.

The handle and separation might not be what it once was at the age of 38, but sometimes Crawford doesn’t need it.

He is traditionally a ball-dominant scorer. With that being said, don’t sleepwalk into the trend of that meaning Crawford can’t pass.

Crawford has averaged 3.4 assists per game over his career, and entered the league as a point guard.

Suns shooting guard Devin Booker said as much on Tuesday that Crawford’s overall game gets overlooked.

“Adding another veteran, man, somebody that I idolized growing up. People just all see his handles but he’s a player — he knows how to play the game,” Booker said.

Crawford joked Friday, but with some seriousness mixed in, that despite being a scorer he’s top-100 on the all-time assist leaderboards.

What Crawford’s best at in this department is recognizing the easy passes to make, a situation in which a scorer in his mold might pick up a case of tunnel vision.

Crawford, at times, worked a two-man game with Karl-Anthony Towns in Minnesota and the Suns have their own supremely talented big man in Deandre Ayton.

Crawford liked to get Towns the ball early around the top of the key because, honestly, the job was done. Towns had the space to make a move, and whether it was to shoot the jumper or drive to the rim, the choice was his.

Towns’ ability to score from almost any position is what makes him special, and that’s why you’d see Crawford get him the ball there. Mission accomplished. He’s open. Let him get to work.

With Ayton, Crawford is already recognizing his strengths.

“He has soft hands, such soft touch,” Crawford said Friday. “He’s such a big presence and he’s a willing passer.”

Expect Crawford to look for Ayton is certain situations where his hands and presence help him the most.

If you’ve watched Ayton play at Arizona, you know he loves to sprint up the floor every now and then to establish early post position.

Watch Crawford in semi-transition keep his head up and spot Taj Gibson doing the same.

As Booker said, Crawford deserves respect for his knowledge of the game. He knows what to look for when going at defenses.

If he catches a young big man in Zach Collins with the same preconceived notion of many that Crawford is only a scorer and helping off his man too much, Crawford will make the simple play for a pass to the strong-side wing.

Now, take this into consideration.

On the roster right now, the big fella Ayton can score, but in terms of giving him the ball and expecting a decent look most of the time? Debatable. Same goes for the likes of Josh Jackson, T.J. Warren etc.

Booker is the central option for those players to get going, something Crawford actually hit on.

“When your guy is your leading scorer and your best player is making those kinds of plays it makes everybody’s job easier,” Crawford said.

That’s not what Crawford will be by any means, but he will take some of the offensive pressure off the likes of Ayton, Jackson and Warren as the potential second option.

Booker is the only go-to in the offense, or at least he was until Crawford arrived on Wednesday. Crawford can now give Booker some more relief when he’s on or off the floor, and that helps, no matter how efficient or inefficient Crawford is.

Best of all, Crawford has fully bought in to why he’s in Phoenix and what he’s being asked to do.

“I saw the pieces,” Crawford said. “I saw what they were building and I just wanted to be a part of it.”

Crawford is a flawed player with the trends of today’s game. He’s not a good defender and isn’t a lights-out shooter to make up for that. He’s very good at what he does well, but he’s flawed.

That’s always going to bring a mentality of someone who will always have something to prove.

“It never goes away, I think that’s what drives me,” Crawford said. “I hear the whispers. I understand that history is not working in my favor. When you get to a certain age, people start saying certain things.

“It’s another challenge. I’m up for it, though.”

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