Jamal Crawford stays with Clippers; did Sixers even make an offer?
SALT LAKE CITY — It's not uncommon for NBA agents to use teams with a lot of salary-cap space as bargaining chips as they try to get lucrative contracts for their clients in free agency.
That might have happened Sunday with the 76ers.
Someone leaked word to the Orange County Register that Jamal Crawford received a "significant" free-agent offer from the Sixers. However, a league source denied that the team had made any type of offer.
Hours later, The Vertical website reported that Crawford had agreed to a three-year, $42 million deal to remain with the Los Angeles Clippers.
This came one day after Crawford's initial offer from the Clippers. The 36-year-old guard was said to be disappointed with that offer, which was believed to be less than the three-year, $35 million deal that Austin Rivers accepted to remain with the team.
Rivers, the son of Clippers coach and president Doc Rivers, averaged 8.9 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists last season. Crawford averaged 14.2 points, 2.8 assists, and 1.8 rebounds, winning the sixth man of the year award for the third time. The difference is that Austin Rivers is 13 years younger.
But in the end, Crawford's camp may have used the Sixers' $46 million in cap space as leverage to get its wish.
Summer-league gig
Former Villanova and NBA point guard Alvin Williams is assisting in the Sixers' player development during the Utah and NBA summer leagues. The current Germantown Academy assistant coach is likely to remain on the Sixers staff beyond the summer, a source said.
If so, that's news to Williams. As of Sunday, he hadn't been notified about a future opportunity. For now, the nine-year NBA veteran will evaluate and work with some of the Sixers' young players.
It would be a great move for the Sixers if that is what they did," Germantown Academy coach Jim Fenerty said of team's hiring Williams full-time. "He's well educated. He loves the game, and he's an excellent teacher of the game." Fenerty coached Williams at GA in the early 1990s.
Williams also has ties with Bryan Colangelo, the Sixers' president of basketball operations. Williams, who played 7 ½ seasons in Toronto, joined the Raptors' coaching staff in 2009, when Colangelo was the team's president and general manager. Williams later served as their director of player development from 2010-13.
Follow and contact 76ers beat writer Keith Pompey on Twitter @PompeyOnSixers and on Instagram at PompeyOnSixers