Grading Minnesota Timberwolves players at the All-Star break

#8 – Jamal Crawford

Grade: C

10.1 points, 42.6 field goal percentage, 34.1 3-point percentage, 1.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.1 blocks

Jamal Crawford is easily the best scorer off the bench; the next closest guy to Crawford in terms of points scored is Dieng with 6.4. While it has been a revelation having a player that can come off the bench and become that spark plug, he’s at times some of the Wolves biggest issues.

He takes a lot of shots, but at times when his shot isn’t going he forces up a lot of questionable attempts. It would be nice when the second units comes in to not just look at Crawford to make all the plays. Especially when Wiggins is usually still on the floor or when the shot clock isn’t at three seconds.

He’s a great scorer, but what he lacks is defense. He has a 113.0 defensive rating, which is the worst on the team in terms of of players who regularly play. The only players behind Crawford are Aldrich, Brooks and Muhammad.

It would be best if he could incorporate others when his shot isn’t falling because usually one of Minnesota’s core three guys are out there on the floor with him. He’s never been a good defender so it would be shockingly to see him figure things out on that side of the floor this late in his career.

So while Crawford appears to be doing really well because of his ability to score the ball, he’s also the reason Minnesota falls behind. He’s more of a double edge sword, if you will.