Impending free agent Jae Crowder proving his value to Heat. And Iguodala on Heat experience
Seven months ago, veteran forward Jae Crowder was a part of the Memphis Grizzlies’ roster. Today, it’s hard to imagine where the Miami Heat would be without him.
Crowder, who was acquired in a February trade as part of a package that also included Andre Iguodala and Solomon Hill, played a total of 71 minutes in the first two games of the Heat’s second-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks. Only All-Stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo have logged more minutes than Crowder to begin the series.
“Jae’s a competitor, a warrior, and he’s accepting every challenge, he’s a great defender, strong, and he gives us that spacing on offense,” Heat guard Goran Dragic said in advance of Friday night’s Game 3 against the Bucks at Disney. “And he’s shooting the ball really well. We want to find him in the offense. I mean, he’s already proved in his career that he’s hitting those big shots, when the game is on the line. He has been huge for us this series.”
Crowder, 30, has played every second of the fourth quarter in the first two games of the second-round series. This isn’t surprising, considering Crowder’s skill set offers exactly what the Heat needs against the Bucks on both ends of the court.
On offense, Crowder helps space the floor against a Bucks defense that focuses on protecting the paint (held opponents to an NBA-low 38.7 paint points per game in the regular season). Crowder shot 19 threes in the first two games of the series, making seven of them.
“He’s a competitive guy that fits out culture, our way of being, and he competes on both ends,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Crowder. “He’s detail-oriented and he’s been kind of a pleasant surprise as a leader in our locker room. And offensively, we need him to be aggressive, particularly behind the three-point line. I love that he had 12 three-point attempts [in Game 2]. Hopefully we can even generate some more for him. He’s a great shooter.”
Then on defense, Crowder has served as Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo’s primary defender. According to NBA Advanced Stats, Crowder spent the most possessions guarding Antetokounmpo during the first two games of the series (44 possessions) with Bam Adebayo second at 19.6 possessions.
“I just want him obviously to go through me to score the ball,” Crowder said of his approach to defending Antetokounmpo. “I don’t want to give him angles. He’s so long and so gifted with his one-two step. He can get to the rim at ease. I’m just trying to make him score over the top of me. If he scores over the top of me, I tip my hat and I’ll go to the offensive end. I just don’t want to give him angles and give him any type of advantage on me when it comes to me turning my body left or right.”
Crowder, who’s on a salary of $7.8 million in the final season of his current contract, will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
The Heat is expected to have significant cap space, depending on where the salary cap ends up amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Miami will surely make an effort to re-sign Crowder, but it could have to be with a one-year deal because the Heat wants to preserve max cap space for 2021 to pursue another star.
“The thing that surprised me the most with Spo is just having that revolving door,” Crowder said of his Heat experience. “A lot of coaches don’t have that in this league. When you have that, you’re able to build a relationship. That’s what I’ve been trying to do with Spo is just build that relationship on and off the court. Ask questions and talk and pick his brain as much as possible, just to get his coaching habits down. It has definitely been an easier transition for me, knowing that [Pat Riley’s] door is open and the conversation is always there with me and Pat or me and Spo. It just builds a relationship. I think that’s the key at this stage of my career and as a professional.”
ANDRE IGUODALA SPEAKS
During an appearance on “The Bill Simmons Podcast” following Game 2, Iguodala was asked when he knew the Heat could be an Eastern Conference contender this season.
“When I got to the team and I was seeing little spurts here and there of what we could do,” said Iguodala, who was traded to Miami in February. “The name Duncan Robinson has become more and more of a household name, but I hadn’t really seen him play and I had a chance to practice against him. So I started seeing him and I saw the work ethic of Tyler Herro and I was like, ‘Woah, this kid is different.’ You could see guys who are really talented and then you see those kids who just have a knack for just wanting to be really good and they really have a joy in working hard, which is a very rare trait especially nowadays.
“Then playing with Goran, knowing what he has been able to do. Then Jimmy was kind of in and out early on when I got there. But just seeing it here and there, Derrick Jones. It’s just all up and down the lineup, you’re seeing so many different things. I always knew Bam Adebayo was this good. Shaun Livingston had been telling me about him for about two years. He was like, ‘Yo, there’s this kid named Bam Adebayo in Miami. He’s legit.’ So I always kept an eye on him. Then when I got to see him, I was like: ‘Whoa. Like he’s superstar level.’”
During Iguodala’s appearance on the podcast, he also revealed rookie KZ Okpala has been playing the role of Antetokounmpo on the Heat’s scout team.
“We got a guy nobody has ever heard of,” Iguodala said. “I call him Stanford kid, KZ Okpala. I don’t even know how to say his last name yet. I call him KZ, my fellow Nigerian brother. He has been kind of like the Giannis in our scout team. You talk about somebody coming with full speed, full force at you. He’s 6-8, can handle the rock and full force, and he’s strong and he’s wiry.”
This story was originally published September 4, 2020 at 11:50 AM.
