According to Broderick Turner of the L.A. Times, the Clippers have agreed to terms with both guards.
The Clippers were informed on Thursday that guards Jamal Crawford and Chauncey Billups intend to sign contracts with the team when the NBA’s moratorium period is lifted for free agents to sign deals, according to NBA executives who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Crawford, an unrestricted free agent who opted out of his $5.2 million contract with the Portland Trail Blazers, has been offered a spot by the Clippers. He is expected to sign a three-year, $15.7 million contract, according to the executives.
Billups, who played in just 20 games last season with the Clippers before suffering a season-ending left Achilles tendon surgery, will sign a one-year deal that could be worth up to $4.3 million if he reaches bonuses, the executives said.
With Crawford and Billups reaching deals with the Clippers, L.A. cancelled the visit they had planned for free agent shooting guard Ray Allen on Friday.
We’ll have more on this to follow, but a few points worth noting:
- Mark Spears is reporting that Crawford’s deal is actually for four years and $25 million, with bonuses. Tough to type that. He will be 36 years old when the deal expires.
- The Clippers managed to finish 7th in the NBA in total rebound rate in 2011 (thanks for the boost, Reggie Evans!). If they hope to approach that level again this year, they better hope Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan have committed themselves to that facet of the game. Because lord knows Jamal Crawford won’t help them. Crawford is one of the worst rebounders in NBA history, possessor of the 2nd worst rebounding season for a player over 6-foot-5 in the history of the league.
- Crawford’s supposed strength is scoring. But compared to a group of five other available shooting guards (Danny Green, Jason Terry, Courtney Lee, Delonte West, and Brandon Rush), he ranks last in: true shooting percentage, effective field goal percentage, field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage. Also, he ranks last in defensive rating.
- Regarding Billups: he is 35 years old and is almost exactly five months removed from a ruptured achilles tendon that ended his season. That injury often takes a year or more to recover from, so we have reason to wonder how effective he’ll be next year.
- But that doesn’t mean the deal isn’t worth it. It’s only for one year, and if it’s important to Chris Paul that Chauncey Billups be around, even if he’s just waving a towel and acting as de facto head coach on the bench, then it makes sense to bring him back. I just have trouble thinking other teams were going to give him that much money under the circumstances.
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