It doesn’t sound as though there’ll be any bad blood between Jae Crowder and the Boston Celtics this upcoming NBA season.
The Celtics traded the forward to the Cleveland Cavaliers along with Isaiah Thomas, Ante Zizic and two draft picks in exchange for star point guard Kyrie Irving, but Crowder saw it coming long before.
The three new Cavs were introduced to the Cleveland media Thursday, and Crowder said he couldn’t help but notice when the Celtics acquired three wings in the offseason, signing Gordon Hayward in free agency, trading for Marcus Morris and selecting Jayson Tatum in the 2017 NBA Draft.
“We had a lot of wing players stacking up,” Crowder said, per MassLive.com. “… It was a little concerning, and I made it clear to the organization that I was concerned about it and I wanted some more direction, you know? And I think they gave it to me with the trade. They showed me what they wanted to do, and I respected it.”
It also didn’t hurt Crowder that Thomas, who also was part of the Celtics’ initial rebuild, was going with him.
“I got the phone call, and I immediately called him,” Crowder said of Thomas. “He said ‘Good thing I’m going with you.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, that makes it a lot easier.’ That might make the transition a lot easier for us.”
Thumbnail photo via Ken Blaze/USA TODAY Sports Images
