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Jae Crowder made his much-awaited debut with the Utah Jazz after being part of a three-team trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Sacramento Kings, yielding him as the centerpiece of their returns, along with the injury-prone Derrick Rose who was recently waived by the team.
The sturdy 6-foot-6 forward had only scored in double figures in half of his games played last month with the Cavs, but immediately made a splash with this new team, scoring 15 points in 29 minutes off the bench — finding a role right out the bat under Quin Snyder's system.
Article Continues Below“Unbelievable. Playing with them on the court is very, very, very fun,” raved an excited Crowder after the games, according to Andy Larsen of KSL. “I got back to having fun playing basketball with a great group of guys. It couldn't have gone better.”
Crowder was mired as a mere 3-point shooter and defender in his short stint with the Cavs after being part of a packaged deal for Kyrie Irving in the summer, but this Jazz team has built their exoskeleton with three-and-D players, giving them a significant role on both sides of the ball and plenty of game action.
“We saw a guy that's part of the team that threw himself into the group,” Snyder said. “When you're a smart player that has feel, it's easy to blend into a group of guys that play unselfishly.”
Crowder was an efficient 5-of-11 from the field and 3-of-7 from deep, sprinkling in five rebounds, three assists, and a steal in his Jazz debut.
