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Jae Crowder on the Verge of Becoming Boston Celtics’ Third Star
- Updated: October 27, 2016
The road to an NBA championship is invisible without top-shelf talent.
Right now, the Boston Celtics “only” have two players who’ve played in an All-Star game, which leads us to believe that, at the very least, a third star must be acquired sooner than later—before the 30-year-old Al Horford shows decline and 5’9” Isaiah Thomas is up for a new deal—if they want to win it all with this core.
But there’s a chance Boston’s missing piece is already on-board.
Jae Crowder was arguably the Celtics’ most important player last season, a two-way menace who defends four positions and opens a cavern of lineup combinations for head coach Brad Stevens to discover and play with.
“He can play the wing position, and then you know Brad will slide him over to the 4 during the game when you’re not looking,” Brooklyn head coach Kenny Atkinson said shortly before Crowder scored 21 points in Boston’s opening night win over the Nets.
Coming off a breakout year in which he emerged as the indispensable leader of a 48-win team—with skills that stretched beyond what’s required of a 3-and-D specialist—Crowder should be even better in 2016-17.
It’s far from outlandish to think his first All-Star appearance is right around the corner.
“He’s a great all-around player,” Amir Johnson said. “The key thing is just guys staying healthy, keep playing within their game, playing within our offense, and it definitely wouldn’t surprise me if he’d be an All-Star, man, because he’s basically one of the most versatile players that can play the 3 spot, switch to the 4 at times, and be a great scorer.”
Last season’s growth, combined with Boston’s sky-high expectations, an expanding role and the noticeable improvements put on display since the beginning of training camp make it feel like Crowder is on the verge of becoming more than the most team-friendly contract in the league.
Last year, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant and Paul George were the only small forwards to post a higher Real Plus-Minus than Crowder. He finished 26th overall (one spot ahead of Horford). Overall projections for this season have Crowder at 18th overall (one spot ahead of the indisputably gifted Anthony Davis).
Conversely, the Celtics posted their lowest point differential (+0.8 points per 100 possessions) with Crowder on the sidelines last season. A sprained ankle suffered in early March derailed his career year and prevented Boston from making the type of playoff noise they thought they would. A 6.7 PER in just under 200 postseason minutes was the result of him Crowder essentially playing on one leg.
Heading into last year, 538’s CARMELO player projections listed former Golden State Warriors forward Tom Abernethy’s 1980 campaign as Crowder’s closest comparison. This year it’s Phoenix Suns swingman Dan Majerle, circa 1992.
The same year he made his first All-Star team.
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