1. Portland Trail Blazers
As of yet, the Portland Trail Blazers have not made the move to bring in a free agent point guard to help them once the season resumes. But the Trail Blazers do still have options out there to fill the depth needs in the backcourt rotation behind the likes of superstar point guard Damian Lillard and the young Anfernee Simons.
Lillard is going to need help if the Blazers really want to make a legit push into the playoffs. He can’t do it all himself, and neither can shooting guard CJ McCollum. The depth behind those two is really thin. The second unit guards for the Blazers are likely going to be Simons and Gary Trent Jr. This team is going to need more help than that.
Crawford did already have one stop in Portland. He averaged more than 14.0 points per game with the Blazers mostly coming off the bench during the 2011-12 season. Just two seasons prior to his one year stint in Portland, Crawford received his first of three Sixth Man of the Year awards. He did put up enough production off the bench during the 2011-12 campaign to at least be in the discussion for the honors, but didn’t quite get over the hump that year.
Landing with the Blazers might not get that elusive first ring that Crawford is likely seeking out, but it would still be a good story and an ample opportunity for him to make an impact right away. Lillard tied a career high in box plus/minus rating this season, at 7.2, and was just shy of his best for win shares per 48 minutes (.225). He deserves at least this much help from signing Crawford.