JackJumpers Close In On Magette Replacement

The Tasmania JackJumpers may have only announced the signing of former Melbourne United centre Marcus Lee on Thursday morning, but the NBL’s newest club is far from finished its spate of new signings.

Lee has joined Tasmania on a one-year deal after impressing in his half-season with United. He finished NBL23 as the most efficient offensive player in the competition, as well as the second-leading shot blocker in the league in terms of per game averages.

With Lee and re-signed All-NBL First Team guard Milton Doyle now locked in for the upcoming season Tasmania has just one import piece left to add to its roster. A piece that, according to ESPN Insider Olgun Uluc, has already been filled.

“The JackJumpers are effectively done,” Uluc said on The Marketplace. “I am told they have locked in their point guard – their replacement for Josh Magette.

“That is Jordon Crawford.

“[He] recently played at Buyukcekmece in Turkey. He was the leading scorer in the Turkish Basketball League this past season … there’s an expectation he’s going to bring a fiery competitiveness to the JackJumpers."

Should Uluc’s reports of Crawford signing for Tasmania be well-founded, the 32-year-old American will join the NBL as one of the shortest players in the competition’s history. He stands at just 5’6” tall, or 168cm.

He averaged a league-leading 19.6 points per game in Turkey last season over the course of his 29 appearances where he shot 50 per cent from the field, 37.8 per cent from three and 87.4 per cent from the free throw line.

He also played three games in Puerto Rico alongside former NBA All-Defensive Second Team member Hassan Whiteside for Piratas de Quebradillas – including a five-point loss to DJ Hogg’s Mayaguez team.

“We’ve had small point guards in the NBL before, we’ve seen Jerome Randle and even Jaylen Adams was pretty small – they’ve had some level of success,” Uluc continued.

“In order to excel and to grow in world basketball to the extent he has and play at the level he has at that height you have to be particularly skilled; you have to be extra-skilled in order to overcome that, and that’s what he is.

“Every player who’s played with him, every person who’s coached him says similar things about him – that he’s extremely crafty, unbelievably skilled, and is really, really competitive.

“He has big shoes to fill as well, Josh Magette – as much as he had ups and downs – they made the playoffs in their first two seasons with him in the team, they made the finals (Championship Series) that first year.

"He has to replace that from not just an on-court perspective where he has to be a table-setter and a floor general like Josh Magette did in a really elite way, but he also has to step up as a leader as well.”