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Yet another player has, or at least plans to, request a trade making him the fourth or so notable guys to do so. Atlanta Hawks point guard and NBA Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford has told the team to trade him if they are unwilling to extend his contract this season, according to FanHouse’s Sam Amick.

Crawford is coming off of a career year and wants to make as much money as he can on what will likely be his last major contract (he’s 30-years old). Jamal played in 79 games last season averaging 31 minutes, 18 points, three assists and three rebounds, numbers good enough to capture the sixth man of the year award. He was an electric scorer last season putting up 45% shooting from the field and a 38% success rate from beyond the arc.

Jamal is certainly the kind of player that any team would want to add to their bench but his age, the fact that he is unlikely going to have a repeat of this past season, and the final year on his current deal (worth $10 million) make him less attractive of an option. I’d want someone like Crawford on my team because of his abilities to fill it up and create his own shot off the dribble (he ranked 18th the NBA last season at 1 point possession in ISO-situations) but again, the detractors are present and then there’s the 79 games of poor defense.

There are a few teams in need of an electric scorer but given that Crawford didn’t fetch more than Acie Law and Speedy Claxton last off-season, nobody is expecting Atlanta to pull down an enormous or impressive haul. They’ll likely only get salary relief and maybe a nice young piece at best. One thing’s for sure, at least in my mind: Atlanta can’t give a 30-year old reserve coming off of a career year a new, rich contract (which is what Crawford is looking for) after giving Joe Johnson $120 million earlier in the summer.

The Chase Down Block Chris Berry Interactive Chris Berry Interactive