The Boston Celtics could benefit from giving Jae Crowder a bigger offensive role this season
On the defensive end, there really is not much more that Jae Crowder could do for the Boston Celtics. He continually draws the toughest defensive matchup, and is asked to guard every position on the court. His ability to defend the four is one of the key pieces to their small ball success, and he has been the most important defensive player on the team since joining them in the Rajon Rondo trade.
Crowder already has one of the most important roles on the team, and he has only started establishing himself on the offensive end. He made great progress in his second season and has cemented himself as one of the most trusted three point shooters on the team. On top of that, he found out how to do it while not threatening the pace that was essential to their success.
As important as Crowder was last season, it always felt as though he was taking a back seat offensively. His shooting improvement was vital, but he never got an opportunity to have an even bigger impact. Given where Crowder was in his first season, however, he was exactly where he should have been last year. He saw his points per game jump up from 9.5 to 14.2, he hit career highs in steal and blocks per game and, most importantly, he saw career highs with a 44.3 shooting percentage, hitting 33.6% from beyond the arc.
Crowder did not put up spectacular numbers, but he showed significant improvement and did exactly what the Celtics needed out of the role he was put into. The question now becomes whether or not Crowder can take another step and start instigating offense, becoming a play maker for himself and his teammates. The Celtics have found an extremely effective way to use Crowder, but they could benefit by increasing his role.
Last season, Crowder had a usage rate or just 17.9, which was topped by Isaiah Thomas, Tyler Zeller, Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk, Evan Turner and Avery Bradley and yet only Thomas topped him in EWA (estimated wins added). Crowder was number three in minutes per game on the team, and that makes his low usage rate even more problematic. Crowder was effective and impactful in everything that he did, and yet he was utilized far less in his minutes than any other significant player on the team.
A lot of people look at last season as a breakout year for Crowder. He separated himself as an elite defender and started having a solid impact on the offensive end. And yet, he could make even more improvement if the Celtics start to use him more when he is on the court. The Celtics do not want to threaten the impact that Crowder was already able to have, but the potential for more cannot be denied.
While Crowder may never be used as a play maker the way Thomas is and Turner was used, but he should be able to do more in terms of creating his own show. Crowder did a great job of cutting out the mid range shots and that improved his shooting efficiency. The problem is that those shots were the results of great ball movement and great guard play. Crowder was one of the main beneficiaries of how well the Celtics generate opportunities as a team, but he is in a position where the Celtics need to figure out what he can do as a shot creator.
Crowder has proven he can be trusted to hit an open three, and now the Celtics need to figure out how well he can create open three point looks. He has proven that he can be a terror driving to the rim, but never attacked enough to have big enough of an impact in that area.
In fact, in addition to being one of their most reliable three point shooters, Crowder was arguably the most effective player finishing over 70% of his shots within three feet of the rim. The problem, however, is that Crowder only took five three point attempts per game, and had only 2.2 drives to the rim per game, ranking fifth on the team.
Crowder has always been an aggressive player, but it felt as though the Celtics did not fully unleash him last year. They found the areas he was most effective in and he did a great job of optimizing what he did in that role. The problem is that Crowder has proven to be one of the few trusted offensive options on the team and he has done enough to earn an increased role.
The Celtics could benefit from running more offense around Crowder. Simply creating more opportunities for him and using him more attacking the rim would drastically increase his offensive importance, but the real potential is in discovering what he can do as a play maker.
The Celtics lost their second most important play maker in Turner this offseason, and they will need multiple players to pick up that load. Crowder is not going to become a big assist man and he is not going to become a primary hall handler, but his offensive talent has not been fully realized yet. He deserves to be one of the most utilized players on the team and if he becomes effective in generating looks for himself, then he can become one of the most prominent offensive players on the team.
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Crowder is already everything the Celtics need I’m to be on the defensive end, but there is still a lot to be desired on the offensive end. He should continue to improve as a shooter but the time has come for them to figure out exactly how much more he is capable of doing as an offensive player.