Celts re-sign Jae Crowder - 5/$35
- Thread starter nattysez
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Lot of years, but $7M will be less than the MLE in a few years. That's not bad value even if he doesn't improve. If he starts making his 3s at a better rate it's an absolute steal (look at what DeMarre Carrol just got).
I'm happy with this. He's a blue collar player who doesn't seem like the type to slack off because he's got a long-term contract. I'm surprised by the length of the deal but (a) perhaps he's a core player, even if from the bench, and (b) at that price the contract should be quite tradable in 2 or 3 years if that's the direction that Danny wants to go in.
Agreed. It's market value next season and a below market value deal for remainder of term. The length of the deal is an asset to the Celtics not a detriment.RGREELEY33 said:
Honestly thought he would get more the way money is being spent so far, especially with Dallas sniffing around while running out of players to throw money at. Much like the 2nd half last year, everybody on the roster is going to be a contributor and everyone remains highly tradeable. Looks like the priority was maintaining that flexibility. Not sexy, but a smart offseason plan given that nobody in the top tiers was going to sign here.
Crowder definitely wanted to come back - I am sure the opportunity Stevens gave for him to take a bigger role on offense did not hurt. Good pickup. I was expecting 4/$32M for him, a bit more than Aminu. Not in love with a deal this long for anyone short of a star, but he's young, healthy, and will always be viewed as a nice role player for other contenders if we need to move him.
Long deals precisely like this (ie, slight overpay now) for these kinds of players (ie, role players) are the best value in a league where salary cap only rises. If DA and JC structured it as flat, even better.jscola85 said:
EDIT: I'm honestly surprised Crowder took it, given the cap situation. He must love it in Boston.
This is kind of what I think. I get taking $7M/year, maybe that's all he could get, as he's still got big flaws. But I'm surprised he agreed to five years. It seems like 3 years $21M for him would almost be better. Still a ton of money, but gives yourself a chance for a much bigger payday at age 28 with a much bigger cap. Believe in yourself a bit more!zenter said:
Maybe that wasn't an option, and nobody would give $7M for three years of course.
Every time the Cs sign ) one like this (i.e. Bradley, arguably Rondo) people obssess over the length and the salary in year one, but zenter has it right. They quickly become market rate and then bargains. As for why Crowder would sign this, it is easy: $35M regardless of whether he never makes another shot. His financial life should now be set. If he signs for 2 years and $20MM, he puts $15M at risk. It does not surprise me at all that nearly every player who agreed to deals yesterday went for 4-6 year deals. If I'm Middleton or Green or most anyone esle, I'd gladly "forfeit" the chance to make $150M over the next 6 years for a guaranteed $80MM over the next 5.
The Middleton/Green situations are different. They would have needed to risk missing a big payday to chase the $150M, by accepting the qualifying offer. That risks both injury, and just production regression.TheRooster said:
Crowder is "set for life" with $20M, and given the market for role players, his primary risk is just injury, not production. He's obviously happy with it, so that's great. Just surprising.
There was a camp that thought Crowder was a better player than Rondo at the time of the trade. I don't know if anyone put it in salary terms, but this was a common viewpoint for believers in the various adjusted plus/minus stats.ishmael said:
Hard to say. Not sure that they would be doing any better without Thomas, their offense is pretty worthless without him.
Edit: Crowder has been far better than I anticipated based on last year, though.
Edit: Crowder has been far better than I anticipated based on last year, though.
It's still IT but it's also clear that he does things others can't and isn't replaceable with current roster pieces. So, 2nd most valuable I would say and without him the team looks confused as to how to play without him.
He also takes a beating the way he plays and I'm surprised he lasted this long without a major injury of some sort.
I'd disagree strongly. Jae Crowder is far and away the best player on the Celtics. He is the glue that holds the team together. He is the sort of player that is consistently underrated because rather than having some exceptional skills and some below average ones, he is consistently better than average at pretty much everything. He is one of the best defensive players in the league at his position and is a key offensive contributor. Not only that, but his ability to create turnovers helps fuels the Celtics offense by keeping them out of the half court. Jae Crowder, right now, looks good enough to be a top 3 player on a championship team. The struggles in his absence are no surprise.
RPM is a good example, where Crowder ranks 5th at his position with an RPM of 3.88, worth nearly 10 wins. Thomas ranks 11th at his position, has an RPM of 1.81 and has been worth nearly 7 wins. Digging a bit deeper, RPM recognizes that Thomas is worth about as much offensively as Jae is overall, but he gives back over half that value by being a defensive liability.