Nuggets should call Celtics about Jae Crowder trade
By Mathew Huff
With the addition of Gordon Hayward to the Boston Celtics, one player the Denver Nuggets could look at to replace Danilo Gallinari is Jae Crowder.
Jae Crowder is not exactly a household name, but he does have some game. With the Celtics signing the big name free agent, Gordon Hayward, he will most likely be relegated to the second unit for Boston. This opens the door for a ton of trade speculation. One team that could take advantage of this and make an offer is none other than the Denver Nuggets.
Denver currently has a void at wing with the departure of Danilo Gallinari and even with how solid Wilson Chandler is, more firepower at the three spot would be beneficial for them.
Denver Nuggets
Crowder isn’t as offensively gifted as Gallo was, but he is a gritty player who is not afraid to do the dirty work for his team. Not to mention, he would be an upgrade defensively even if some NBA fans believe he is overrated at the end of the court.
Per basketball-reference.com, Crowder averaged 13.9 points per game last season to go along with a three-point field goal percentage of 39.8. With how often Denver shoots the long ball, he would be able to fit into the Nuggets’ offensive scheme in no time. He is also a solid rebounder as he pulled down 5.1 defensive boards per game this past year.
His defensive rating of 108 could use some improvement, but bear in mind he plays on the wing where he has to guard some of the best stars in the league at that position, (Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony just name a few players.) In other words, do not put too much stock into that particular defensive category for Jae.
Denver might be able to use some of their assets and shed some salary in order to get Jae Crowder as well. One player Boston might be interested in is Kenneth Faried, who has a contract that Denver would love to off load. You can read a piece on teams interested in Faried here written by my co-expert, Tom West.
Next: Season review: Gary Harris
Jae Crowder might want out of Boston now and the Denver Nuggets should at least call Danny Ainge and the Celtics and make an offer.