Trail Blazers welcome Crawford, waive Roy with amnesty clause

By Paul Levine Dec 16, 2011, 3:46 GMT

Los Angeles - The Portland Trail Blazers welcomed veteran free agent guard Jamal Crawford, and waved goodbye to their recently-retired star guard Brandon Roy.

The Trail Blazers agreed terms with Crawford on Thursday, though details of the deal were not disclosed per team policy.

'We're very excited about adding what Jamal can bring to this team,' said Trail Blazers acting general manager Chad Buchanan.

'Obviously, he's a proven scorer coming off the bench throughout his NBA career. He's had a terrific couple of years down in Atlanta. And we feel like he can be a real spark plug for us coming off our bench.'

Winner of the 2009-10 NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award with Atlanta, Crawford played the last two seasons for the Hawks. He finished second in the league in bench scoring, averaging 14.2 points per game last year.

In 11 NBA seasons, Crawford holds career averages of 15.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists with Chicago, New York, Golden State and Atlanta.

Before adding Crawford to their roster, the Trail Blazers waived Roy and designated him the team's amnesty player in the new collective bargaining agreement, after the three-time All-Star guard announced his retirement Friday because of chronic knee problems after six operations.

'Brandon's announcement that he is leaving the game ultimately shifted our decision to amnesty,' Buchanan explained.

'We're given the immediate option to obtain additional salary cap flexibility as we will no longer be in the luxury tax - something that is critical to improving our team and helping us recover from the loss of a player of Brandon's caliber.'

During his five standout NBA seasons with Portland, the 27-year-old Roy finished with career averages of 19.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists.

Also, the Trail Blazers agreed to terms with rugged power forward Craig Smith, who spent the last two years with the LA Clippers, and averaged 5.4 points and 2.4 rebounds in 2010-11.

Elsewhere: The Utah Jazz agreed to terms with free agent forward Josh Howard, who was limited to just 18 games for Washington last season, after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during the 2009-10 campaign.

An All-Star in 2007, Howard comes to the Jazz with career averages of 15.1 points and 5.9 rebounds with Dallas and Washington.

The Charlotte Bobcats signed guard Reggie Williams to a reported two-year contract.

Expected to miss the first 6-to-8 weeks of the season following upcoming left knee surgery, Williams averaged 9.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 42.3 per cent from behind the three-point arc in 80 games for the Golden State Warriors last year.