Celtics’ Jae Crowder gives thanks to Mavericks

Jae Crowder didn’t really want to leave the Dallas Mavericks. Ideally, what he wanted was more playing time.

But Crowder knew that probably wasn’t going to happen in Dallas, so he was secretly hoping the Mavs would do him a favor and trade him.

That trade happened Dec. 18, 2014, when the Mavs shipped Brandan Wright, Jameer Nelson, a 2016 first-round pick (top seven protected), a 2016 second-round pick and Crowder to the Celtics for Rajon Rondo and Dwight Powell.

It was a trade that forever changed Crowder’s life professionally and financially as he received more playing time in Boston and parlayed that into a five-year, $35 million contract last summer when he became a free agent.

“I wasn’t happy with the limited playing time I was getting at that time, so I was hoping something would shake,” Crowder said before Monday’s Mavs-Celtics game at American Airlines Center. “I figured something was going to happen, but I didn’t know when, I didn’t know where.

“I was just being patient and trying to be a professional and coming to work each and every day and be a Maverick.”

Crowder leads the Celtics in steals (1.83) and is second in scoring (14.6) and minutes played (32.2) while being one of the bright spots on their team. And while Rondo was a bad mix for the Mavs — he and the Mavs departed during last year’s playoffs — owner Mark Cuban said he is “thrilled” with the production they’ve gotten from Powell.

“I like Jae a lot, he’s a great guy,” Cuban said. “I wish him nothing but the best.

“The nature of their team is he would get more minutes there than here.”

“It happened in mysterious ways, but I’m very thankful for what the Mavericks did in drafting me and dealing me to a great organization like the Celtics,” Crowder said. “I’m very humble and thankful for the opportunity.”

Celtics coach Brad Stevens likes the business-like approach Crowder takes to every practice and every game.

“I think the biggest thing about Jae is that Jae has really worked hard, and from everything I can tell, he did that here as well,” Stevens said. “I think the biggest thing that I noticed about Jae is Jae doesn’t waste time when he goes in the gym.

“He works on the right things, he works on things that are going to apply to his game. It doesn’t mean that he doesn’t try to add to his game, it just means that he doesn’t waste a ton of time on things that he’ll probably never do.”

Crowder’s NBA career started with the Mavs in 2012. But while he always made steady progress in Dallas, minutes were scarce for Crowder with the Mavs because he was playing behind too many seasoned veterans.

In retrospect, Crowder recognizes that the trade from the Mavs to the Celtics was the best thing that’s happened to him.

This story was originally published January 18, 2016 at 10:07 PM with the headline "Celtics’ Jae Crowder gives thanks to Mavericks."