Jae Crowder fitting seamlessly into starting role with the Miami Heat

Jae Crowder has made an impressive transition into the starting lineup as the Miami Heat continue to prepare for the postseason.

The warmup portion of the NBA Re-Start was seemingly going as expected for Jae Crowder and the Miami Heat. With three games in store to prepare after an almost five-month hiatus, Crowder found himself in the second unit behind the big man duo of Bam Adebayo and Meyers Leonard.

However, Leonard struggled mightily over the course of these three games, averaging just 3.0 points in 12.3 minutes per game. And while he started in all of his previous 49 regular season appearances for the Heat, head coach Erik Spoelstra moved swiftly by inserting the highly versatile Crowder into the starting lineup.

And so far, Crowder hasn’t let Spoelstra down.

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Through the opening five games in the bubble, Crowder has averaged 13.0 points and 4.6 rebounds in 28.8 minutes per game. Most notably, it’s been his scorching 58.6 percent shooting clip from 3-point range on 5.8 attempts per game that has particularly stood out.

Just recently, coach Spoelstra detailed the importance of Crowder’s role with the Heat:

"“The most important thing is he spaces the floor and he hits important ones historically over the course of his career. He seems to rise to the occasion. Yeah, I want him spacing the floor and shooting with great confidence. If anything, I want him to shoot from deeper range, to help widen the court for us. He has range to 25 feet. I would love him for him to space out there and shoot a couple of those a game.”"

To date, Crowder certainly appears to have taken Spoelstra’s advice on board. Through the first five games in the bubble, Crowder has shot 7-of-16 on attempts between 25-29 feet from the rim, per NBA Stats. Even more impressively, Crowder has nailed seven of his nine corner 3-point attempts, thus illustrating just how valuable the eight-year veteran can be in the postseason.

Just as importantly, it’s Crowder’s ability to cover multiple positions at the defensive end of the floor that enhances his value with the Heat. In their most recent game, a 119-112 loss to the Phoenix Suns, Crowder was assigned a variety of defensive matchups. According to NBA Stats, Crowder had defensive assignments ranging from center Deandre Ayton to smaller guards in Ricky Rubio and Jevon Carter.

At 6’6″ and 235 pounds, Crowder possesses the strength to handle bigger opponents down low, while also possessing the necessary smarts and lateral quickness to handle a variety of wings and guards. In combination with Jimmy Butler, Andre Iguodala and Derrick Jones Jr., the Heat now possess a multitude of options to throw at some of the more dangerous scoring options in the Eastern Conference.

But at the end of the day,  Crowder’s ultimate value to the Heat will come down to his ability to knock the open shot. All up, the 30-year-old Crowder is shooting at an excellent 44.1 percent clip from long range in his 19 appearances in a Heat jersey, including being 22-of-49 (44.9 percent) on attempts considered wide open.

So with just three games remaining until the postseason commences, the Miami Heat appear to be all-in with Jae Crowder in the starting unit.