8/6/2004 09:24:51 AM|||Shep|||To quote this Yahoo article:
The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that guard Jamal Crawford has verbally agreed to a seven-year deal worth at least $56 million that will eventually land him in New York. The Bulls are planning on sending Crawford and forward Jerome Williams to the Knicks for forward Othella Harrington, guard Frank Williams, center Dikembe Motombo, and center Cezary Trybanski.
Crawford was the Bulls' leading scorer last season, but he never jelled with coach Scott Skiles, so his future was cloudy at best in Chicago. Even though the Knicks are paying him close to $60 million, he'll still have to fight for shots with Stephon Marbury and Allan Houston. Unless another deal is made (or until Houston gets hurt again), Crawford will see fewer opportunities in New York than he did in Chicago. As for the Bulls, Jamal's departure leaves minutes open for rookie Ben Gordon, if he is ready to handle them.
I'm not sure what made Chicago feel compelled to go through with this trade. It's almost like a bad fantasy league where people feel like just because someone proposes a trade they're compelled to somehow make it work out. For what the Bulls are getting, I would have rather kept an unhappy Crawford. I think the Bulls look more promising than the Knicks right now anyway, so I don't know why Crawford couldn't wait a little while. Sure, it'll be a couple years before they fully mature (if they don't ship off all the pieces they have in place now), and maybe it's just because I'm biased, but - even without Crawford - this Bulls team will be good. This trade, however, reminds me of one involving Elton Brand a few years ago...
Fantasy Impact
As mentioned above, Crawford won't get as many shots in NY as he did in Chicago. This might actually help his percentage, though, since he may actually be forced to take good shots. Of course, if Stephon is tired out from the Olympics (at least somewhat), Crawford may become the Knicks best option, leading him to once again hoist the ball at will (see also: Antoine Walker).
Jerome Williams will probably fill up the hole that Othella Harrington is leaving, so you can expect those kind of numbers from him (they're pretty close to what he was doing already anyway).
Fantasy Impact
Frank Williams will be the backup point to Kirk Hinrich, and perhaps Jannero Pargo. This might be his chance to make a run at the shooting guard position, since he's fairly well suited for that (except for being undersized for a SG, but then, so is Ben Gordon). Othella Harrington (a la Vice Versa) will take over the role played by Jerome Williams, so you can probably expect those kind of numbers from him (6,6).
Frankly (haha! oops...) - no seriously - I'd like to see Hinrich, Gordon, Deng, Chandler, and Curry starting. Sure it would be probably the youngest starting line ever (except for maybe the one the Clippers use to have), but it would show promise of a brighter tomorrow. I realize Bulls fans have been blessed, so I shouldn't be complaining about having to wait for another championship caliber team, but I was in Portland when Jordan was in Chicago, so I didn't get to enjoy any of it!
|||109175812223554886|||Crawford traded... finally...