Jamal Crawford hoping for new deal with Hawks

ATLANTA (AP) - Jamal Crawford says every game in his first season in Atlanta felt like a concert.

Now the winner of the NBA’s Sixth Man Award last season is hoping for more than one encore with the Hawks.

Crawford will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. He had a quick answer when asked what he’s looking for.

“What do I want? I want to be here,” Crawford said at the start of the Hawks’ training camp.

“I love being here. I LOVE being here. I had a ball every time. I felt like I was at a concert performing every time I played here. It was just a lot of fun.”

Despite that declaration of love for the Hawks, Crawford’s future with the team is in doubt. Atlanta re-signed Joe Johnson to a six-year deal worth more than $123 million in the offseason, and they made Jordan Crawford the team’s first-round draft pick.

Jamal Crawford, Johnson and Jordan Crawford are all shooting guards. Jamal Crawford says he understands the business side of the game, as the depth at the position may make it difficult for the team to re-sign the 10-year veteran.

Hawks general manager Rick Sund said the good news is Jamal Crawford, like Johnson and the team’s other recent free agents, wants to remain with the team.

“The nice thing is we’ve got a lot of players on our team the last four of five years who are free agents and they’ve wanted to stay here,” Sund said after Monday’s practice.

“That’s good. I always look at that as a positive.”

Sund wouldn’t comment on Crawford’s contract status, but he noted the organization has been aggressive in keeping the team together.

“The organization the last few years has done an outstanding job to retain players who have become free agents, and a lot of that is because the players have wanted to remain here and we’ve been financially competitive with the other teams,” Sund said.

This season’s talks are more complicated as the NBA its players’ association try to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement.

“The CBA, there’s no telling what the cap will be and that’s everything,” Crawford said. “That’s very important.”

Crawford said he understands his desire to re-sign with Atlanta doesn’t mean his wish will be granted.

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