Jamal Crawford will either be traded on draft night or opt out and become an unrestricted free agent. The Portland Trail Blazers extended the deadline for Crawford to opt out from June 15 to June 29, which gives them the opportunity to shop him on the night of the draft.
If the Blazers find a trade partner that Crawford deems suitable, he could opt in to the final year of his contract and be dealt to that team, making $5 million next season. If Portland can’t put together a trade, Crawford will opt out and test free agency.
If Crawford becomes a free agent, he’ll have plenty of potential suitors. The Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers are among the teams expected to pursue Crawford, according to league sources.
Crawford is looking forward to the next several weeks, when he’ll find out what his future holds.
“I’m really excited,” Crawford said. “It’s funny how things work out. If it happens, it’ll pretty much be my first true free agency. The first time I signed a contract was a sign-and-trade so I didn’t really go through the whole process. Then, last year was a rushed free agency because of the lockout. If I go through it this year, that’ll be the first true free agency of my career, which is pretty weird. It’s an exciting time. Everything kicks off in a couple of weeks and we’ll see what happens.”
