Portland guard Jamal Crawford didn’t waste any time opting out of the second year of his contract with the Trail Blazers, confirming to CSNNW.com on Saturday that he would, indeed, be testing the free-agent waters. Â Read more after the jump.
Few things went according to plan for Portland this past season, for the franchise itself, for the players and for the fans. Crawford certainly thought he was joining a playoff contender — and had a few things gone differently along the way, he would have been — and it’s tough to blame him now for wanting to test the free-agent market, after having only an abbreviated period in which to do so before last season, with the lockout forcing free-agency into a hurry-up mess.
In telling CSNNW that he is going to test the market, Crawford said: “After talking with my agent, it was a no-brainer. The whole plan all along was to secure a one-year deal so I could hit the market again this offseason.
“I had a couple of (current) playoff teams that offered me a deal that was double what I was making this year but I wanted to wait. Now I get the chance to go through an entire free agency period due to having a rushed offseason last year.
“At the end of the day, I wanted to (opt out) quick out of respect for Portland and just because I’ve opted out doesn’t mean I don’t want to return. But I’ll definitely look at my options this summer.”
