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Jae Crowder’s Health is Not a Concern

By Joshua Bateman

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Jae Crowder was able to have an immediate impact on the Boston Celtics but it was during the post season that he finally took over the team. Crowder was the team’s best player and all that was cut short when he went down with a knee injury.

The initial fear is always there with a knee injury but when there was news that Crowder’s was not to serious there was a nice sigh of relief. Still, when knees are involved you can never be too cautious and it is not until recently that Celtics fans could finally trust Crowder’s health again.

Crowder has come out and announced that he new feels 100% and could play a game if the season started tomorrow. Crowder’s health is one of the things that could seriously harm the Celtics’ season.

The Celtics have plenty of guard and power forward depth but when you look at the small forward position there is absolutely nothing behind Crowder. Crowder is the only player who was primarily a small forward a season ago and the Celtics are going to have to put a player out of position when Crowder is on the bench.

Apr 12, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder (99) drives the ball against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Mike Miller (18) in the second half at TD Garden. The Celtics defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 117-78. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

It’s hard to imagine the Celtics having a sustainable starting unit without Crowder. If his knee did not fully recover then the Celtics would have too many players playing out of position and they would constantly have to compensate for the weakness at the small forward position.

Crowder also hold the distinction of guarding the opposing team’s best player. Crowder has arguably the most responsibility on the Celtics and if he cannot be playing at 100% then the team is a risk of crumbling. Crowder is essential on the defensive end and his versatility on the offensive end makes him a perfect fit into Stevens’ offense.

The Celtics do not have anyone who is even close to Crowder on the rest of their roster and he is one of the few players that if he goes down there simply is no way the Celtics can come close to finding his production and impact from backup players.

Having a lot of options is one of the great luxuries that the Celtics have to deal with this year, The Celtics could lose almost any guard and they’d be able to use another guard with similar play. With Crowder, the only player who may have some sort of on court resemblance to him would be Evan Turner.

Moving Turner back to the small forward position could ease the transition as his physical makeup is the closest to Crowder’s. The Celtics also have some options with David Lee, Jonas Jerebko and James Young but none of them would be playing their natural position and to rely on them for the starting unit could be disastrous.

But, it appears as though that disaster has been fully avoided. Crowder has no issues with his health and even though the Celtics’ starting unit may look significantly different from last year, it will still feature Jae Crowder at the small forward position.

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