Knicks all-time starting 5: Players who never reached playoffs in NY

SG: Jamal Crawford

Crawford was a walking bucket throughout his 20-year NBA career. He played his first four years in Chicago before being traded to the Knicks with Jerome Williams for Dikembe Mutombo, Othella Harrington, Cezary Trybanski, and Frank Williams. JC was fresh off averaging 17.3 points and 5.1 assists per game in his final season with the Bulls, but Chicago won just 23 games.

Crawford produced monster numbers in the Big Apple, but the wins did not follow. Over his four-plus seasons with the Knicks, the 6’5 guard averaged 17.6 points, 4.4 assists, and 1.1 steals in 36.9 minutes per game. JC was mostly a starter in New York, but he would go on to be a three-time Sixth Man of the Year after leaving the Knicks. His team won just 112 games in his four full seasons in New York, but his ball-handling and scoring chops created some wild performances.

Jamal Crawford set his career-high in scoring with the Knicks in 2008 as he averaged over 20 points per game. He scored the 16th most points in the NBA that season, which was his final full year with the Knicks. Crawford was traded to Golden State for Al Harrington in November of 2008, and he began his decade-long run as one of the best sixth men in the league the following year.

It was not until 2010 that Crawford reach the playoffs for the first time, but his team qualified in eight of the next nine years. He continued to get buckets, but the guard never advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs.