With Jae Crowder under contract for the next two seasons, it’s time to take a look at his goals for his second season with the Utah Jazz.
Jae Crowder has been through a lot in the past year.
His mother passed away minutes after Boston Celtics general manager called to tell him he was being sent to Cleveland in the blockbuster Kyrie Irving trade last summer. His time there would be short-lived, as he would then be shipped out again to the Utah Jazz in a three-team trade that sent former first round selection Rodney Hood to the Land.
While Crowder’s numbers with the Cleveland Cavaliers weren’t bad, it wasn’t until he arrived in Salt Lake City he looked more like the Boston version of Jae
Chowder
Crowder.
In the 27 regular season contests Crowder suited up for the Utah Jazz, he posted averages of 11.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per contest. In the postseason, his rebounding average jumped up to 5.1 per game, but his shooting percentages (31 percent on all field goal attempts, 33.3 percent from beyond the arc) made his 10.0 points per game feel kind of hollow.
Outside of his 27-point explosion against the Oklahoma City Thunder (a loss) and a 21-point outing against the Houston Rockets (another loss), Crowder’s performances were mainly up and down.
None of this is to say that either of the games mentioned — or the series loss against the Houston Rockets in general — should be pinned on Crowder. It just paints a framework for some achievable goals for the upcoming 2018-19 season.