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Chris Haynes of Comcast Sportsnet Northwest reported that Jamal Crawford has opted out of his contract with the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday and will become a unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports Jamal Crawford has officially sent his letter to the Portland Trail Blazers making him an unrestricted free agent.

“I wanted to experience free agency truly for the first time,” Crawford told CSNNW.com. “The last two years I’ve essentially played on one-year contracts and I can’t do that to my family anymore. I want a multi-year deal.”

The 12-year guard will make his first true splash in free agency after signing a two-year $10 million deal with the Trail Blazers in December. Crawford averaged 13.9 points, 3.2 assists and 2 rebounds with Portland and had a player’s option worth $5 million in his second year.

The Trail Blazers and Crawford’s agent, Andy Miller, both agreed to extend his option deadline from June 15 to June 29, one day after the 2012 NBA Draft. Trade rumors have floated around with Crawford’s name attached to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Clippers and the Phoenix Suns.

The Phoenix Suns stepped on the gas Monday night against the Portland Trail Blazers to move into the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Marcin Gortat scored a double double with 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Suns turned up the tempo with 27 fast-break buckets to speed past Portland 125-107 at US Airways Center.

Phoenix (32-29) jumped Houston for the eight seed after shooting 60% from the field to coast to a 23-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Channing Frye scored 12 of his 19 points in the second, Jared Dudley had 18 points and Shannon Brown added 16.

Portland (28-34) eliminated any chance to make the playoffs after its defense allowed the most points this entire season.

J.J. Hickson and Jamal Crawford recorded 22 points for the Trail Blazers as they dropped their third straight game.  Crawford returned after not playing in Sunday’s loss in Sacramento.

Jonny Flynn and Luke Babbitt entered Portland’s starting lineup for the first time this season replacing Raymond Felton (family) and Nicolas Batum (quadriceps).

Babbitt made the most of his minutes, scoring a career-high 18 points and knocking down four threes, tying his career best. Wesley Matthews ended with 19.

Babbitt scored 13 first-half points with 10 coming in the second to pull the Trail Blazers within three after starting the quarter down 11.

That was as close as Portland would get.

Frye found his rhythm before halftime for 12 points to enter the third with Phoenix up 66-53. Steve Nash dished out 13 assists.

The Suns continued their hot shooting in the second half as they opened the fourth on an 8-0 run to lead 105-82.

Markieff Morris scored 14 points and Sebastian Telfair chipped in with 12 for Phoenix.

Trail Blazer rookie guard Nolan Smith ended with a career-high 14 points.

Portland will return home on April 18, to host the Utah Jazz at the Rose Garden. Tipoff starts at 7pm.

Marcus Thornton scored 20 points for the Sacramento Kings and hit a game-winning jumper in the closing seconds of regulation to knock off the Portland Trail Blazers 104-103 Sunday at Power Balance Pavilion.

Thornton drilled a pull-up jumper with 3.4 seconds left in the fourth as the Kings outscored Portland 19-10 down the stretch to snap their seven-game losing streak.

Demarcus Cousins led Sacramento (20-41) with 23 points and Tyreke Evans also finished with 20.

Both teams exchanged leads three times in the final 10 seconds.

Tied at 100 with 39.4 seconds left, Cousins drove baseline on Portland’s Joel Przybilla to score a layup.

Wesley Matthews, 8-of-10 from deep, scored a game-high 31 points and knocked down a step-back three from the corner to regain Portland’s 103-102 lead with 5.8 seconds in regulation.

On Sacramento’s next possession, Thornton received the inbounds pass, dribbled near the free-throw line and sunk a jumper to reclaim the lead in the closing seconds.

Isaiah Thomas chipped in with 18 points and eight assists as the Kings used a 10-0 run to remove an eight-point deficit in the fourth.

Portland (28-33) shot 53% from the floor, but went scoreless for over four minutes midway through the final quarter. The Trail Blazers committed 17 turnovers.

Raymond Felton scored 19 points and broke Portland’s scoreless streak after hitting a jumper to even the game at 95-95.

Nicolas Batum had 10 points and J.J. Hickson added a double double with 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Trail Blazers.

Sacramento took a slim three-point lead on Cousins’ free throw with 2:06 on the clock.

After draining five threes in the third for 19 points, Matthews hit again from deep to tie the game at 98-98 with under two minutes.

Felton’s jumper put Portland up two, but Evans knocked down two free throws to tie the game again at 100.

The Trail Blazers will travel to Phoenix on Monday to battle the Suns (31-29) in the second contest of a back-to-back at US Airways Center. Tipoff starts 7pm.