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Jamal Crawford prefers to re-sign with Clippers

Victor Decolongon / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford has spent the past four seasons suiting up for the Los Angeles Clippers, and if the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent gets his way, the final years of his career will also be in Clippers country.

"My preference is to re-sign with the Clippers," Crawford told Basketball Insiders' Alex Kennedy. "But I understand that, at the end of the day, I'm a free agent so I have to look at everything. I have to take every call and consider every offer that comes to me and my agent. I have to, that's just a part of being a free agent. Like I said, my preference is to re-sign with the Clippers. But we have to take every single call that comes in. That's the way it is."

The 36-year-old shooting guard earned a record third Sixth Man of the Year award after averaging 14.2 points on 40.4 percent shooting, 2.3 assists, and 1.8 rebounds, in 26.9 minutes coming off the pine for the 53-29 Clippers in 2015-16.

After the team was bounced from the opening round of the playoffs in a six-game series by the Portland Trail Blazers, Crawford discussed his future with the organization in his exit meeting with head coach and president of basketball operations Doc Rivers.

"He just said, ‘We want to bring you back and that’s part of the plan, for sure.’ I think I’m one of the priorities and he said that they want to bring me back to L.A," Crawford said of his talk with Rivers. "I thought the exit meeting went really well and he definitely made it clear that he wants me to re-sign."

With Los Angeles failing to advance to the Western Conference finals once again, some are of the belief that the Chris Paul-Blake Griffin-DeAndre Jordan well has run dry, and changes need to be made to get the team to where it needs to be. Crawford hopes that isn't the case, as he believes the current makeup of the roster is strong enough both on the floor and behind the scenes to get over that hump.

"I think chemistry is underrated," he said. "If you look at the really, really great teams, most of them have been together for years – and not just in this era either, even going back and looking at the great teams in NBA history."

"With us, if you look at the last two champions – the Spurs and the Warriors – we knocked both of those teams out recently [eliminating San Antonio in 2015 and eliminating Golden State in 2014]. I think we’re right there in terms of contending. We’re not far away whatsoever. Sometimes you have to keep knocking on that door until you break it down. It may take time and it may not be the easiest process, but that’s the way I kind of look at it."

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