Jae Crowder is the Next Jimmy Butler

Over the past two seasons, Jimmy Butler has gone from a questionable starting shooting guard for the Chicago Bulls to arguably the best shooting guard in the NBA. Over that span, Jae Crowder of the Boston Celtics has also been on the rise as his game, on both sides of the ball, keeps getting better. Crowder and Butler both are products of junior college that ended up with the Marquette Golden Eagles, and it shows as their games are very similar.

Butler is one of the best wing defenders in the league, along with Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs. He also brings 20 plus points a night, along with solid rebounding and passing. This season, Butler has shown the ability to take over games as he scored 40 points in one half against the Toronto Raptors and scoring 53 in the Bulls’ comeback win in Philadelphia. He has transformed himself into becoming one of the best all-around players in the league.

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The reason Jae Crowder can be seen as one of the best wing players in the NBA one day is because Butler’s success didn’t come overnight. Prior to Butler’s breakout season last year, Butler was an average shooting guard, with very below average offensive skills. Butler shot a dreadful 39.7 percent from the field and his offensive game was turning into a liability for the Bulls. He still started all 67 games he played in because Chicago felt he had potential and his defense was one of the best in the league, averaging 1.9 steals per game.

Crowder is far from being known as one of the best wing players, but how far is he from being considered an All-Star level player? Butler and Crowder have very similar skill sets.

Butler likes to drive in more often than Crowder on offense. 30.6 percent of Jimmy Butler’s shots, according to Basketball Reference, is from three feet or closer. Crowder only goes inside about 27.3 percent of the time because 43.9 percent of his shot attempts come from behind the arc.

Crowder’s offensive game has revolved around his three-point shot for much of his career. It’s shown this year as he has attempted 4.8 threes a game, shooting 35.1 percent from behind the arc. Butler doesn’t shoot as many threes per game as Crowder, only 3.3, but his three-point percentage reached a career high last season at 37.8 percent, although, it has dipped back down to 33.1 percent this season. Butler’s shot has improved a lot over the years, and so has Crowder’s.

Both players have the ability to play off the ball very well. Both the Celtics and Bulls are deep teams, which means less shots to go around. Due to the Bulls lack of offensive game this season, Butler has had to shoot more than ever in his career. Crowder is third on the Celtics with 10.9 shot attempts per game. That’s not many shots for one of the best players on the team, and somewhat explains why a lot of people think his 14 points per game can go up in the future.

Crowder does a lot, just like Butler, on offense that doesn’t get seen on the stat sheet. Crowder sets a lot of screens on offense, passes the ball efficiently and is one of the best at cutting to the basket on the team. Butler and Pau Gasol have made Butler’s backdoor cut famous by finishing the play with an alley-oop. While scoring is important, both players understand how much they can impact the game without the ball.

The thing that Butler has made his name off of, though, is his defense. That is exactly what Crowder is doing, as well. Butler is hands down one of the best defenders in the NBA. He can guard any position and does it night in and night out. Butler leads the league, once again, averaging 37.9 minutes per game. Crowder averages 32 minutes a night for Boston, but is able to contribute 1.8 steals per game. Butler’s 1.7 steals per contest is his lowest since his second season in the league, but he had a streak of 44 consecutive games with a steal.

Butler, like Crowder, affects the game on defense in more ways than just getting steals. Having someone on the court who can switch on screens and not be a mismatch for anyone on the court is a huge advantage for a team to have. Butler has done that for the Bulls, and Jae Crowder is doing that now for the Celtics. Avery Bradley is a very good defender as well, however, Crowder’s size gives him the ability to guard one through five on the court.

The potential for Jae Crowder has been seen since his days with Marquette. This season he has made a huge jump thus far, setting career-highs in nearly every category. The improvement that Butler made last season is something that is rarely seen, if ever, so there’s no reason to think Crowder can’t continue to get better.

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The improvement he has shown this season and the team around Crowder only further validates the thought that Crowder could one day be playing at the level of Jimmy Butler. Their roles are different, however, they still bring very similar skill sets to the table. Crowder has a chance to win Most Improved Player this season, like Butler did last year. The sky is the limit for a player who is as big of a gym rat as Jae Crowder is.

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