If I were Ainge, right now, I couldn't pull the trigger on this.
In all honesty, I'm just not entirely sold on WCS.
I liked him at draft time and I can see the flashes of potential in him. I'm just not convinced that he will ever becoming a difference maker in any one criteria over the course of his career.
As an offensive player, he's quite limited. Defensively I think he could be pretty good, but I don't think he'll ever be elite. As a rebounder, I think he could be pretty good - but again probably not elite. He's very limited as a playmaker.
I think adding a guy like WCS to this roster could help us to fill a big hole up front, but I'm not convinced that the benefit would be significant enough to justify giving up a player that is as good overall as Crowder is.
I know Crowder is no star, but he's a very valuable player who is a near picture-perfect fit for this team.
Offensively he's not going to carry a team, but he's extremely efficient and doesn't need the offense to run around him in order to get his points. To illustrate this point, Crowder ranked an incredible TENTH on the team in usage rate last year, yet still managed to average 14 PPG.
He did so while shooting 40% from three, and shooting 81% from the line (on a very impressive 30% free throw rate). Three point shots and free throws are the two most efficient shots in the game, which is why Crowder finished with a very impressive scoring efficiency of 1.39 Points Per FGA.
To put this into perspective, the here is the scoring efficiency of Boston's top 10 scorers last season:
1) Thomas: 28.9 PTS / 19.4 FGA = 1.49
2) Bradley: 16.3 PTS / 14.1 FGA = 1.16
3) Crowder: 13.9 PTS / 10.0 FGA = 1.39
4) Horford: 14.0 PTS / 11.8 FGA = 1.18
5) Smart: 10.6 PTS / 9.5 FGA = 1.11
6) Olynyk: 9.0 PTS / 6.8 FGA = 1.32
7) Johnson: 6.5 PTS / 4.6 FGA = 1.41
8 ) Brown: 6.6 PTS / 5.4 FGA = 1.22
9) Rozier: 5.5 PTS / 5.6 FGA = 0.98
10) Jerebko: 3.8 PTS / 3.4 FG = 1.11
That offensive efficiency allows him to score points without specifically needing to have plays run for him. That combined with his defensive versatility makes him a perfect complementary on a team that all features the likes of Isaiah Thomas, Gordon Hayward and Al Horford - who are always going to be above Crowder on the depth chart.
Then throw in the fact that Crowder is on such an incredibly good value contract, and it makes it very difficult for me to justify trading him unless it's part of a deal that brings a really special and game changing player in return.