The NBA rumor mill is in full swing, and it appears the Boston Celtics are in the center of the storm. But don’t color Jae Crowder impressed.
The Celtics swingman is coming off a career season in which he averaged 14.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game and proved his worth as a legitimate starting two-way forward. Boston apparently isn’t satisfied with last season’s starting five, however, as it already added All-Star forward Al Horford in free agency and reportedly is pursuing more high-level players.
The Celtics’ quest to improve likely will continue into 2017, and CSNNE.com’s A. Sherrod Blakely published an article Tuesday identifying some top targets in a deep free-agent class that includes players like Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin and Gordon Hayward. Here’s how Crowder reacted to those developments:
There are a few ways to read this tweet, and since it’s the offseason, we’ll entertain all of them.
On the one hand, Crowder could be expressing his displeasure over the targets Blakely listed; Danilo Gallinari and Rudy Gay — not exactly NBA superstars — also made the cut, and he could want Boston to pursue better options.
But the much more likely explanation is that Crowder isn’t too enthused about the Celtics targeting a bunch of players who play his position and believes C’s fans, and possibly the team’s front office, are “sleeping” on him.
Crowder wouldn’t be totally wrong: The Celtics won 48 games last season with a tight-knit, fun-to-watch team, and the 26-year-old played a big role in that success. Then again, Boston’s first-round playoff exit proved it needed more firepower to compete for an NBA title, so it’s hard to argue against Danny Ainge and Co. trying to go out and acquire more talent.
Thumbnail photo via Brett Davis/USA TODAY Sports Images
