Playing in a front court that featured premiere scorers like Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Jordan Crawford saw his numbers plummet from 13 points and 6 assists in more than 30 minutes of play per game in his year with the Boston Celtics, down to just 8.4 points and 1.5 assists in just 15 minutes of action last season with the Golden State Warriors. As a result, Crawford's stock took a major hit in free agency and never got the lucrative offer that he hoped of getting in the offseason.
But there were still several team's who were interested in signing the 25 year old guard including the Miami Heat who saw LeBron James walk away to the Cleveland Cavaliers in free agency. Miami Herald's Barry Jackson revealed that the Heat were serious about adding a shooting guard to keep the 32 year old Dwayne Wade's minutes in check in the coming season. The team, however, only had the league minimum to offer and it simply wasn't enough for Crawford.
Without any good offer from teams in the NBA, Jordan Crawford decided to look elsewhere. Now he heads to China to play with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers according to court-side.com:
Jordan Crawford (193 cm, Xavier'10) is bidding adieu to the NBA this 2014-15 and will continue his professional career in China, signing with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers (CBA).
Crawford did a fine job running the point for the Celtics when Rajon Rondo went down with an ACL injury. He called the shots and basically ran the offense as head coach Brad Stevens liked to maximize his creativity to keep the offense going for his young and developing Celtics squad per Hoops Habit. A change in scenery with the Warriors did not do him any good however and he never saw his potential as a sixth man candidate become a reality.
Jordan Crawford remained on the market for quite some time until now. The Miami Heat was a potential destination but they simply did not have enough money to offer Crawford a comfortable deal after acquiring Luol Deng in free agency and resigning Chris Bosh to a max contract. Now Crawford finally has a new team that he can call home but not with the NBA but with the Flying Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association.
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