Heat Engage Clippers About Jamal Crawford

The Heat have reached out to the Clippers to gauge their willingness to trade Jamal Crawford, a league sources tell Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group, with the idea that he would provide depth and injury insurance behind Dwyane Wade. Still, a Clippers official who spoke with Haynes insists that the team is not shopping Crawford. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported earlier that the Cavs have explored trading Brendan Haywood for Crawford and others, advancing an earlier report from The Plain Dealer’s Terry Pluto of rumors linking Cleveland to Crawford.

Cleveland would be able to offer superior cap flexibility in return with Haywood’s sizable non-guaranteed deal, though Miami could offer direct roster relief to the Clippers as they reel from DeAndre Jordan‘s departure. Heat president Pat Riley has denied that he’s looking to trade Chris Andersen and Mario Chalmers, though those names keep coming up. The Clippers would probably focus on someone who could provide more production, so perhaps they’d ask for Josh McRoberts, though that’s just my speculation.

Crawford is due $5.675MM this coming season, making him still a relative bargain even coming off his fewest minutes per game since the 2002/03 season. The 35-year-old’s salary became fully guaranteed when the Clippers elected not to waive him before last week’s contract guarantee date. The Clippers were apparently exploring the idea of trading him, if not shopping him, before the draft, with one report linking him to the Nuggets.

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