Making sense of Jordan Crawford working out with Detroit Pistons

Jordan Crawford is working out with the Detroit Pistons, which tells us not a whole lot, actually. Let’s try to make sense of the recent news.

Jordan Crawford is striving to make a NBA comeback, similarly to recently-signed Detroit Pistons wing Joe Johnson.

Crawford is working out with the Pistons, according to Amico Hoops’ Ben Stinar. The 30-year-old guard also held workouts in front of NBA teams in late August at UCLA.

There’s an important stipulation that needs to be made, though. Crawford is working out *with* the Pistons and not *for* the Pistons, which isn’t a possibility without a corresponding roster move by our calculations.

Detroit’s roster reached its maximum 20 training camp invites when Johnson signed his partially-guaranteed contract. There are 14 guaranteed contracts, two two-way contracts, two Exhibit 10 contracts and the non-guaranteed deal of Christian Wood.

If the Pistons were truly enamored with Crawford, they’d have to move one of their many two-guards or wings with a similar skillset. That could be any of Langston Galloway, Khyri Thomas, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk or any of these other names.

Crawford has primarily played overseas or in the G-League over the last five years. He played 24 games for the New Orleans Pelicans from 2016-18, most recently with five during the 2017-18 season.

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Crawford is a Detroit native and played with the Grand Rapids Drive in 2016-17. He famously dunked on LeBron James at one of his camps.

The shifty two-guard most recently averaged 36.5 points per game for the Blue Whales in China. In 37 games in China he is averaging 40.2 points per game.

It’s evident that he can still score at a high level overseas. After receiving little reported interest from NBA teams from his workouts in UCLA, perhaps the Pistons are throwing him a bone by building him up as he works out against the Pistons deepest position. That’s the least they could do for a local product but likely don’t have a path to sign him.

They’re stated interest in Johnson’s veteran leadership and Wood’s fit for a need offers far more than adding to the plethora of two-guards the Pistons already have.