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JULY 27TH, 2:09pm: The deal is finally official, the team announced.
“Jae epitomizes everything that we look for in a Celtic,” said Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. “His infectious energy on both ends of the court and his versatile skill set enabled him to win over both the coaching staff and our fan base after his acquisition last season.”
JULY 1ST, 11:02am: The Celtics and free agent Jae Crowder have reached an agreement on a five-year, $35MM deal, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). The Mavericks, who dealt Crowder to Boston back in December were also in the running for the Glenn Schwartzman client. The deal includes no options, and is fully guaranteed, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald adds (Twitter link).
The Celtics had tendered a qualifying offer to Crowder worth $1.2MM earlier this week, making the forward a restricted free agent, which would have allowed Boston to match any offer he received from another team. Crowder had expressed an interest to return to the Celtics, but did note that he planned to test the free agent market.
Crowder appeared in 57 games for the Celtics after arriving via trade, and he averaged 9.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 24.2 minutes per game. His career numbers through 238 contests are 5.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 1.0 APG, with a slash line of .414/.316/.735.