Jordan

Crawford

Crawford is becoming quite the international baller. Since the beginning of 2019 he’s played in Israel, China, Germany, and now Russia. He worked out for the Pistons as recently as Sept. 2019, but it’s doubtful we’ll see him in an NBA jersey again.

Crawford spent the past season playing in China, but he’s attempting to make a comeback to the NBA, and it’s possible he’ll be able to earn a camp invite with the Pistons due to their lack of shooters. However, even if he lands a spot on the regular-season roster, it’s unlikely he’ll have any fantasy value.

Crawford played five regular season games for the Pelicans at the end of the 2018-19 campaign, but started this season in with Ironi Nahariya in Israel.

Young limped off the court Wednesday night and it “didn’t look good” according to beat writer Michael Lee. We’ll know more about the extent of the injury following the MRI. Either way, Young’s arrow was pointing straight down even before the injury. He’s lost his starting job to Jordan Crawford, who will be locked into heavy minutes whenever Young sits.

This is not the knee that caused him problems last year, so owners don’t have to worry about this being a chronic, more serious injury. As long as the ‘bruise’ in this case is superficially located on the outside of the knee or away from cartilage production zones, we’re probably looking at a minor ailment. He’s listed as day-to-day and should be benched for now, while Jordan Crawford should be owned in 12-team formats.

Crawford has shown explosive offensive ability ever since joining the Wizards a year ago. Over the last 10 games, he’s averaging 18.1 points, 3.1 assists, 2.0 3-pointers and 1.1 steals while playing just 29.8 minutes per night. He’ll easily push for 32-35 minutes nightly now that Young is gone.

Crawford almost didn’t play on Wednesday after being spotted at shootaround with his right ankle “heavily taped.” “It was sore, but the trainers did a great job, preparing me for the game,” Crawford said. It’s something for owners to keep in mind as the Wizards finish out the season.

John Wall, Jordan Crawford, Chris Singleton, Trevor Booker and Kevin Seraphin started tonight, as Randy Wittman remains ticked off with McGee and Young. The Wizards will certainly need McGee to help guard Dwight Howard tonight, but keep in mind that Wittman comes from the Bobby Knight school of stubborness.

Even when he was coming off the bench, Crawford was playing well enough to be owned in most leagues. If he’s still available in your league, pick him up, but beware that he could cool off at any time. It’s also possible that Young could reclaim the job at some point, but for now, Crawford is a must-own player.

Henderson is going to score, but doesn’t do much more in terms of fantasy. He’s worth a look in many leagues, but a guy like Devin Harris, Linas Kleiza or Jordan Crawford is probably a better way to use a waiver-wire pickup.