2017 NBA free agency grades: Timberwolves to sign Jamal Crawford

The Minnesota Timberwolves look to improve their bench by signing veteran shooting guard Jamal Crawford to an already improved roster.

There is no longer any doubt that the Minnesota Timberwolves are looking to win now. They approached this offseason aggressively and have improved their roster drastically because of it. During the 2017 NBA Draft, they added Jimmy Butler and Justin Patton through a trade with the Chicago Bulls.

Free agency is turning out to be just as eventful as the draft. The Wolves reached agreements with Jeff Teague and Taj Gibson early in free agency after trading Ricky Rubio to the Utah Jazz to clear cap space.

Now with the starting lineup finally set, the Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to sign Jamal Crawford to a two-year, $8.9 million deal. The second year is a player option. This deal is pending Crawford clearing the waivers, per Shams Charania of The Vertical.

This is an excellent fit for both parties. The Timberwolves desperately needed to upgrade their bench during this offseason. This signing gets them one step closer to accomplishing that task. They are only one more signing away from having a more complete bench.

More from Minnesota Timberwolves

• 5 NBA players everyone should be keeping a close eye on in 2023-24
• Ranking the 4 riskiest boom-or-bust NBA teams in 2023–24
• Ranking the 10 championship-less NBA teams by closeness to title
• 1 Crucial skill that every Timberwolves star must work on this summer
• 3 players in line for a big raise during the 2023 NBA offseason

Crawford is 37 years old, but apparently no one told him that.  Last season he averaged 12.3 points a game coming off the bench for the Los Angeles Clippers. He is a capable scorer that will bring consistency to the second unit. Even more impressive than how many points he averaged is that he played in all 82 games during last season. He is still very reliable at his age.

Crawford replaces Brandon Rush as the Timberwolves’ backup shooting guard. That is an impressive upgrade. Rush played in 47 games last season and averaged 6.9 points. He played more minutes than expected due to an injury to Zach LaVine. Despite an increase in minutes, Rush never really saw an increase in his numbers.

Many teams are making moves to build for the future because of how dominant the Golden State Warriors are right now. The Minnesota Timberwolves are not scared as they are looking to take advantage while others are throwing in the towel. Even before the addition of Jimmy Butler, Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns declared it his mission to stop the Warriors dynasty. 

There are still moves that the Minnesota Timberwolves can make to improve their roster if that is truly the goal.

NEXT: 2017 NBA free agency tracker – Grades for every deal so far

This was a good signing for the Timberwolves because of need and the fit. Crawford is an older veteran but very valuable to a team as a trusted scorer off the bench. That is exactly what the Timberwolves needed so for that reason this signing grades out fairly well.

Grade: B