Raptors sign former Northwestern standout Drew Crawford

Former Northwestern standout Drew Crawford has signed with the Toronto Raptors, the team’s media relations team reported.

Crawford averaged eight points on 50 percent shooting and 2.8 rebounds in five games for the Raptors Summer League team in Las Vegas. At 6-foot-5, Crawford provides very good length at the guard position, and he impressed the Raptors enough for them to give him a contract. It is the first NBA contract he has earned past the Summer League.

Now of course, this does not mean Crawford, the son of longtime NBA referee Danny Crawford, is going to make the regular-season roster; he will have to continue to impress the organization throughout the preseason and in preseason game action.

After a solid career at Northwestern where he earned third-team All-Big Ten status as a senior, Crawford went undrafted but signed to play with the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League in 2014. He then played for B’nei Herzliya in the well-regarded Israeli Premier League. He’s also had several Summer League spots, but this is his first preseason roster made. Crawford has his work cut out for him trying to make a very solid Raptors squad, but this is a hugely encouraging and big step forward in his journey to making an NBA Opening Night roster.