Should the Charlotte Hornets Pursue Jamal Crawford?

If you haven’t heard, the Charlotte Hornets have called up NBA Developmental League All-Star, Elliot Williams, for a 10-day contract.

The move has been made in an effort to bring more scoring to the lineup in Kemba Walker‘s absence. Even with Walker in the lineup for the vast majority of the season, the Hornets have the 27th ranked scoring offense at roughly 94 points per game.

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That number drops to only 92 points in six games without Kemba (which is somewhat inflated because of games against Minnesota and Denver that got out of hand early).

While Williams brings some potential, he may not be enough to get the Hornets where they want to be.

Looking ahead, one would think that Charlotte would need to be at least the sixth seed to have a chance at making any noise in the playoffs.

The eighth seed would create a match-up with the the Atlanta Hawks, and they’re looking more and more like contenders every game.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are racing up the standings and have now won 11 straight games. They’re only 3.5 games out of the second seed, and my money’s on them passing Washington and Toronto before the season ends. Considering Charlotte has been swept by Cleveland and has lost its previous 20 games against LeBron James, I’m not so sure that’s who they want to face.

For the Hornets to get up to the sixth seed, they would need to erase the 5.5 game lead Milwaukee has on them. While that’s absolutely a possibility, I’m not sure Elliot Williams is enough of a punch.

So who would be? Well, how about L.A. Clipper’s sixth man, Jamal Crawford?

The Clippers have toyed with the idea of shopping him around, so Charlotte would be wise to get them on the phone.

Crawford would be a match made in heaven for the Hornets. He’s a crafty scorer, an athletic defender, and has the ability to play point guard.

The only downside would be what it would take to get him. Any package with Lance Stephenson would be ideal, but they wouldn’t want to give away any additional young guys or any first round picks, as Crawford is already in his 15th year. That being said, it would at least be worth a phone call to see what they could potentially work out.

In just 26 minutes per night and only three starts this season, Crawford has averaged 15.7 points, 2.6 assists, and almost a steal per game. While his numbers are impressive in their own right, it’s his play-making ability that is most valuable.

The Hornets all too often find themselves pressured at the end of the shot clock, as it appears many of their guys panic when the original play doesn’t pan out. As a result, there are too many cases when someone is forced to take a less-than-ideal jumper at the buzzer. If they had a reliable scorer that can create for himself, that would go along way in these situations.

That’s exactly what Jamal Crawford is.

Whether or not he is worth taking a run at depends on how serious the Hornets are about making a push this season. It’s important not to sacrifice the future for the faint dreams of the present, so the Clippers’ asking price would surely be the deciding factor.

There’s still hope, however, that the current pieces are enough to make a playoff run. Who knows, maybe Elliot Williams will prove to be a surprisingly productive addition. After all, it worked for Miami in the form of Hassan Whiteside, so it just may work for the Charlotte Hornets.

Next: The Hornets are causing teams to question their toughness

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