Jae Crowder goes straight ‘in the fire,’ starts for Kings hours after signing is official
Jae Crowder didn’t arrive in Minneapolis until 11 p.m. Tuesday. He couldn’t participate in the Sacramento Kings’ shootaround Wednesday morning because he hadn’t gone through all the procedural hoops before officially signing his contract.
And then he started at small forward against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“I walked in probably 20 minutes late this morning,” Crowder said after playing 27 minutes in the Kings’ comeback, 115-104 win. “Coach Mike (Brown) introduced me, and then he put the matchups and I saw my name. I’m like, ‘Holy crap, I’m in the fire.’”
The Kings made Crowder’s signing official on Wednesday afternoon, then made the surprising decision to start him with DeMar DeRozan on the other side of the country nursing inflamed muscles in his lower back.
The Kings brought in the 34-year-old journeyman forward to add much-needed depth on the wing and offer a defensive option against bigger scorers they haven’t had since Harrison Barnes was traded to San Antonio over the summer. That case was made Wednesday when Crowder was tasked with Minnesota’s Julius Randle and reigning Sixth Man of the Year, Naz Reid.
He earned the team’s defensive player of the game recognition and donned the purple and gold crown postgame for the first time.
“He knows what it takes to win,” Brown said. “Not only that, he’s a grown a-- man, and he can guard fours, he can guard fives. If somebody gets going that’s in that realm, he ain’t going to back down. He’s going to fight that much harder. You saw it tonight. You’re not going to stop Julius Randle, but you got to fight him.”
Crowder’s first stat line with the Kings: 8 points on 3-of-5 shooting, two made 3s, four rebounds, a steal and plus-16 in 27 minutes. He made a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer in his first field goal attempt wearing No. 99 in the Kings’ blue “City Edition” uniforms.
It came after getting late-night treatment from the Kings’ performance staff, and one-on-one meetings with the team’s head offensive coach, Jay Triano, and defensive specialist, Luke Loucks on Wednesday.
“He’s a true professional,” De’Aaron Fox said. “You come in, probably not knowing anybody, not knowing any plans calls or anything, try to learn in the fly. ... He’s been in the league for years, he has toughness and and he can still shoot the ball. So I think he was big for us tonight.”
‘Experience is knowledge,’ NBA veteran says
Crowder’s first introduction to the Kings came over the summer when he worked out with the team during its offseason program. Just about all his current teammates were there working out with him at their downtown Sacramento facility, with the exceptions of Fox, Domantas Sabonis and Malik Monk.
The Kings are Crowder’s ninth NBA team over 13 seasons. Wednesday was his 804th regular season game. He’s played for playoff teams for 11 straight years. The only exception was his rookie season in 2012-13 with the Dallas Mavericks, who finished 41-41.
Even if Crowder falls out of the rotation when DeRozan returns, Sacramento is hoping his veteran leadership and experience can help the rest of the roster.
“Experience is knowledge,” Crowder said. “It’s an opportunity to give that to your teammates. You look at the guys I came into the NBA with, Dirk Nowitzki, Vince Carter, Elton Brand — those guys taught me how to be professional and to win games, and not be consumed in yourself, just be more about the team.”
Crowder has appeared in 21 playoff series, including two consecutive NBA Finals with the Miami Heat in the bubble in 2020, and Phoenix the following year when the Suns lost to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Crowder might not have been available in another financial era. The latest collective bargaining agreement signed in 2023 created harsh penalties for teams going over the first and second aprons of salary cap spending, which has led to teams relying more on younger, cheaper two-way players than costlier veterans. The minimum salary for rookies is just over $1.1 million. For veterans of 10 years or more, it’s $3.3 million.
Teams over the first apron are not allowed to use trade exceptions or take back additional salaries in trades. Teams over the second apron can’t aggregate contracts or send cash in trades. The Kings before adding Crowder were $7.5 million below the first apron and $18.4 million below the second apron.
“You respect what he’s done in the league,” Fox said. “So even though it’s his first day here. Whatever he has to say, I feel like everybody should be willing to listen because he’s been in a lot of high pressure situations.”
