AJC: Rookie Jordan Crawford can score but . . .

[Hawksquawk]

JC2 scored at Xavier and he's scoring in the NBA presason. (John Biever/SI)

The preseason has shown that Hawks rookie Jordan Crawford is a scorer, as advertised.

After three games, he’s fourth in the league with 21 points per game and the leading scorer among rookies. Yeah, he’s playing crazy minutes–break it down per 48 minutes and he drops down to 64th in preseason scoring– but he’s shooting 48 percent.

That’s nothing but good news for the Hawks, who need to develop young players for a time when their “core” philosophy runs its course. But it’s not so valuable now because of the way Atlanta’s roster is built. As it stands, Crawford actually would be more valuable to the Hawks if he were a stopper rather than a scorer (and better still if he were three inches taller and played small forward).

The Hawks don’t lack for guards who can score. J.J. is an All-Star scorer. Jamal is a Sixth Man Award scorer. Bibby isn’t a dynamic scorer but spot him up at the 3-point line and he …

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