The New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Clippers are talking about a potential trade they would move Carmelo Anthony to the Clips and Austin Rivers to the Knicks. However, the holdup to the deal reportedly involves finding a third team to take on Jamal Crawford and his annual salary of $13 million per year according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.
Crawford, who is one of the best playmakers in the NBA, is a combo guard who is every bit the scorer that Shumpert is a defender and then some. Unless the Cleveland Cavaliers want to see if they can strike a deal that brings Anthony to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for a combination of Shumpert and Channing Frye, then they should trade for Crawford; while the team has a player in DeAndre Liggins who can emulate what Shumpert did as a defender, there isn’t a single player on the team who can play like Crawford.