JANUARY 3: After a brief tryout period, Shanxi has opted to keep its current import players rather than signing Crawford, a source tells Sportando. As a result, Crawford remains a free agent and is still in China for the time being, ready to sign with another team if he receives an offer, according to Carchia.
DECEMBER 31: Veteran NBA guard Jordan Crawford appears set to resume his playing career overseas. According to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, Crawford has reached a deal with China’s Shanxi Brave Dragons.
Crawford, a first-round draft pick in 2010, has appeared in 281 career regular season games, averaging 12.2 PPG on .411/.317/.826 shooting. Most recently, he finished the 2017/18 season with the Pelicans, playing in five regular season games and a couple more playoff contests for the club.
After failing to secure an NBA job in the offseason, Crawford seemingly lined up a deal with German team Alba Berlin in November. However, he reportedly didn’t pass his physical with the club, which voided his agreement. Now, he’s set to head back to China, where he previously played for Xinjiang in 2014 and Tianjin in 2015-16.
Because the Chinese Basketball Association’s season ends before the NBA’s, there’s a chance that Crawford will once again catch on with an NBA club down the stretch in 2018/19 if he performs well in China for Shanxi.
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Shanxi already had 2 American players under contract (the maximum allowed in CBA). So to bring in Crawford they would have had to rid themselves of either Bobby Brown or Shabazz Muhammad.