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NBA Free Agency Rankings: Jamal Crawford Lands No. 17

The Atlanta Hawks are going to be without Jamal Crawford when they start playing basketball next. This is not a bold prediction. Teams on both coasts are interested in him, and the Hawks can't afford to keep their shoes on.

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Tom Ziller broke down the top 79 free agents for this abbreviated class, slotting Crawford towards the upper crust:

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Crawford had a production drop in 2011 (nice timing!). But when you look at Crawford's career, his Sixth Man of the Year 2010 season actually looks like the odd duck. As Crawford will turn 32 this season, that's not a good sign.

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Jam's role in Atlanta is the role he'll be limited to anywhere: bench scorer who shoots a lot. But he needs to be more efficient in that role to justify a salary much higher than $4-5 million a season. I imagine he's expecting more than that on the market. Also keep an eye on how widely used the amnesty clause is; if players like Brandon Roy and Rashard Lewis end up on the market, they'll soak up some of Jam's love.

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Photographs by coka_koehler used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.