Here’s Why Jae Crowder Will be Even Better

Jae Crowder has a chance to prove he can play at a star level this season

Jae Crowder has been trying to prove himself since high school. He wasn’t highly touted coming out of high school so he played at two junior colleges before transferring to Marquette as a junior. Despite being named to the NCAA AP All-American Second Team his senior season, Crowder still fell to the second round – 34th pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

A day after being drafted, Crowder was traded for his former Celtic teammate Tyler Zeller, sending him to Dallas to start his career. He was a hard worker and put together a couple of solid seasons for the Mavs, although, once again, he was shipped to Boston in need of proving himself. The year he was traded to Boston, Crowder only saw 10.6 minutes per game with Dallas. However, since then, his minutes per game with the Boston Celtics has skyrocketed to 28.4.

Coming off his first full season as starter, the expectations for Crowder this upcoming season are through the roof. In 73 starts, Crowder was one of the team’s best player. He transformed his game from being a defensive specialist off the bench to one of the best two-way players in the league.

His 14.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game – 14th in the NBA – highlights his all-around game. Not to mention he also set career-highs with a 44.3 field-goal percentage and 33.6 three-point percentage.

While his numbers don’t necessarily jump off the stat sheet, it’s his intangibles that make him so valuable. Crowder has always been one of the hardest workers, he doesn’t take a possession off and his constant movement helps him impact the game without needing the ball.

Also, he was one of the most clutch players on Boston last season. In the fourth quarter, Crowder shot an impressive 44.4 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from three. His field-goal percentage was only higher in the first quarter and it was his best three-point shooting quarter. It makes sense as watching him nail a three late in a game became second nature to Celtics’ fans.

While calling him a star is a little premature, Crowder has a chance to prove himself this season. He’s proven that he can be a starter in the NBA, and impact both ends of the floor, however, can he continue to grow and take his game to another level?

Crowder finished last season averaging 11.1 shots per game, although that should go up this season. After only taking 9.4 shots per contest in November, Crowder saw his shot attempts increase over the next couple of months, eventually hanging around 12 per night. Not to mention that besides one month, his usage rate continued to rise every month. He became a bigger and bigger part of the Celtics offense as the season went on. As he continued to grow as a player, he was given a bigger responsibility on offense.

Of course, the addition of Al Horford could take some shots away from Crowder, however, with Evan Turner gone, someone will need to step up and handle the ball more often. Despite his usage rate rising nearly every month, Crowder still only ranked seventh on the team with an 18.5 percent usage rate. Pair that with Terry Rozier‘s strong summer league, and Crowder might not be the first option when thinking about replacing Turner’s point forward ability.

Although, with small ball being how most teams play, Crowder’s ability to play power forward and handle the ball adds a new dynamic. Maybe he’s not a great passer – 1.8 assists per game – but he also rarely turns the ball over – 1.3 turnovers per 36 minutes. With Crowder playing the four 22 percent of the time last season, and it likely to increase, Crowder could be the Celtics version of Draymond Green.

He handles the ball, doesn’t need a lot of shots, but will take it if left open, and plays tough defense. With all eyes on All-Stars Isaiah Thomas and Al Horford, Crowder becomes the third or fourth option behind Avery Bradley in opposing team’s minds. That’s a dangerous game to play when thinking about Crowder’s constant movement towards the basket and his solid jump shot paired with his driving ability.

When it comes down to it, the Celtics might not necessarily game plan to use Crowder more, but a lot more opportunities open up when adding a good passing big man to the rotation. With 72 percent of his shots coming from either in the paint or behind the arc, it’s evident that he’s fine being a kick-out option or used as a slasher. Both options look to have more opportunities this season with a second All-Star on the team, and Crowder might finally get a chance to create shots for himself with Turner now in Portland.

Besides Horford’s ability to pass and attract attention on offense, his biggest impact is arguably felt on defense. Crowder is one of the best defensive wings when it comes to playing the passing lanes. He’s always trying to jump the pass and take it the other way for an easy dunk, that’s why he was one of the best at forcing turnovers.

With that being said, getting burned for being too aggressive was always a real possibility for Crowder last season. While Horford’s presence in the paint won’t stop him from getting beat off the dribble, it does allow an already aggressive defender to play even more aggressive. Amir Johnson is a solid post defender, however, at only 6’9″ and averaging 1.1 blocks per game last season, there wasn’t the same security down low as there will be in the coming seasons.

Also, out of the 11 wing players ahead of Crowder in steals per game last season, nine of them had at least one big man who averaged at least 1.2 blocks per game – Horford’s career average. Although, one of the two who didn’t have a wall of defense in the paint was Kawhi Leonard, arguably the best defender in the NBA.

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Sure, a lot of it is having quick hands and anticipating passes, but, knowing you can play more aggressive because you have a security blanket down low is an underrated aspect of defense. Even though a lot of the top stealers in the NBA are super quick, a lot of them aren’t. A lot of them are just very good at playing the passing lanes and have a defensive big altering shots in the paint.

The addition of Al Horford and the small ball era won’t take Crowder’s game to the next level by itself. Although, knowing how hard he works, it’s hard to imagine that he won’t find ways to use everything to his advantage. He no longer has a veteran backup – rookie Jaylen Brown is his backup. Therefore, 35 minutes per night for Crowder is not out of question.

The craziest thing is Crowder only has one season of playing heavy minutes under his belt. He saw 17.3 minutes and 16.1 minutes per game in his first two seasons, respectively, but 24 career spot starts with the Mavs wasn’t enough consistency. It helps players, especially young ones, developments to see consistent playing time, and Crowder finally has that.

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There’s no guarantee that Crowder will ever become a star. There’s not even a guarantee that last season wasn’t his peak and he’ll continue to put up similar numbers. However, there’s also nothing stopping him from becoming an All-Star. The small forward position is his, and he only has to do what he’s been doing his whole life – prove himself to the world.