The Bucks, Heat and Hawks have been linked to Jae Crowder multiple times and are “widely regarded” as his top suitors, but the Wizards recently made an offer for the veteran forward, Marc Stein reports in his latest Substack article (subscription required).
Wizards forward Rui Hachimura, a restricted free agent in the summer who is set to return tonight from an ankle injury, was believed to be part of the trade package, but the Suns declined and are said to be looking for a “certifiable starter” in exchange for Crowder, according to Stein.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst previously identified the Wizards as a potential Crowder suitor and noted that Hachimura could be a trade candidate.
Here are a couple more trade rumors and one note from around the NBA:
- The Hawks have “widened the scope” of their trade talks involving John Collins, sources tell Stein. While that seems to indicate that Atlanta will eventually find a suitable deal for Collins, the size and length of his contract ($102MM over four years), plus his limited role and declining production this season, have made it difficult thus far to find a trade partner for the veteran power forward, says Stein.
- Some people in the Lakers‘ organization are “very intrigued” by Knicks wing Cam Reddish, according to Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. They view him as a youthful reclamation project, which the team has had some success with in the past couple seasons (Malik Monk and Lonnie Walker). Sources tell Woike that the Knicks are looking for a protected first-rounder for the 23-year-old, but that asking price is expected to dip as Reddish is no longer in New York’s rotation. Reddish will be a restricted free agent in the summer if he’s extended a qualifying offer.
- Count Zach Kram of The Ringer among the writers who believe that the Raptors should make moves to reset the roster ahead of the trade deadline. Kram notes that Toronto’s half-court offense has been very poor and the defense has been much worse than expected compared to last season. The Raptors have some very valuable players so they don’t need to do a full tear-down, but it’s evident that things aren’t working with the current group, Kram writes.
Suns don’t think Crowder is good enough to start for their team, but only want someone who is a “certified starter” back.
Ok.
Well, Crowder and his agent say he’s not only good enough to start, but so good that he’s justified in going home if he doesn’t start. Maybe PHX figured that if there’s even a credible case that he’s THAT good, then, with a bargain contract of only 10 mm a year, he should net a certified starter. Or maybe everyone is FOS.
When I read that I was like huh? Rui for JC isn’t a bad trade either as long as they’re picks involved.
I mean PHX would obviously start Crowder now with Cam Johnson out. They just wanted to start CP3/Booker/Mikal/Cam/Ayton for more 3P shooting and they of course want to start the guy they’re about to give a pretty big multi year deal to this summer. I’m sure Crowder would’ve still played 25+ MPG off the bench at full health, and started when Cam was out or Mikal.
Crowder is still a very solid rotation player, but he is on the last year of his deal and obviously wanted an extension since he hasn’t made a ton of money in his career (relative obviously) and he’s getting up there in age (also relative lol). He’s making like $10.8M this year. The max veteran extension for him would’ve been ~$12.22M in 23-24, then 8% raises off of that. Adding at least 2yrs to his contract at that number would’ve been extremely reasonable and a super fair value deal. The MLE is going to start at around $11.3M next season, that’s barely above that.
I’m not sure why PHX wouldn’t extend Crowder. I guess they don’t want to pay Cam Johnson something around $20M a year and Crowder…but it’s honestly not smart. I assume the Sarver thing has a lot to do with it. Maybe the new owner will get in there in time to fix it but I doubt it. I never understood Sarver being unwilling to take on future salary when he was obviously not going to own the team past this season. Obviously you don’t want to take on any bad longterm money, but Crowder at that number is a fine contract and very easily movable.
Not sure what they plan to do now. I’d have to think having a new owner, and the deadline being a bit over a month away, they’ll figure out some kind of move. To really have any chance of a deep run this year, they’re going to have to get Crowder back playing and make one other decent sized move involving giving up at least one decent 1st, or make multiple moves and have to give up probably two decent 1sts. Finding 3&D wings isn’t easy, and they need another ball handler.
I wouldn’t have moved Crowder for Rui either though. Rui can’t shoot the 3 ball at all, and has had issues staying on the court (whatever they may be, I know he had some mental health issues, but he’s also had some injuries in the past) and 2nd rounders aren’t going to help a win now team. CP3 is old AF. They should’ve made a move last season for an Eric Gordon type, and that Shamet trade (and contract) was bad. This is probably the last year they’re viable contenders in the west, and mostly bc it’s pretty wide open. They should be willing to part with two 1sts to make this team as good as possible this year, or what’s even the point of this?
Not a PHX fan either, just weird. Maybe it is/was Sarver, I guess we’ll see.
John Collins and the Mavs would be an excellent fit. They desperately need a PF who can rebound, defend and put the ball in the basket. Finney-Smith and Bullock have been playing undersized down there all season.
I’d give the hawks, bertans, mcgee, a bag of potato chips and a signed dirk jersey for collins…. collins is in a huge decline right now
Bertans and McGee have both been horrible for the Mavs, though, and each has two years remaining on their contracts after this year. Collins is worth a lot more than that trash, even with his decline.
Besides luka the only trade chips teams would want are hurt kleber or too key to the team finney smith! The rest of the the guys like dinwiddie, Bertans, wood , Powell and thj are one or both uninteresting or on a bad contract
I’d also argue some of that decline may be from playing with two ball-dominant guards and within an offensive system that lacks ball movement and enough spacing. A move to Dallas with Luka would be the perfect landing spot for both parties.
Buying low on Collins could be interesting. I think they’re likely to wait to make any big moves like that until the off-season though. Assuming they don’t end up in the T10 of the lotto, they’ll finally have all of their future 1sts which will make a trade a lot easier. And losing Kleber for the season hurts. I also am not a fan of a Wood/Collins pairing really…and they probably want to see how that experiment plays out before any big moves.
Right now they really just need some shots to fall, and obviously a small move w 2nds if it can help should be strongly considered.
@trog – hate to break the news but Collins can’t defend. It’s part of the reason he’s losing minutes. Already bad enough with Trae playing Matador defense.
Ok so who in the Suns starting lineup is on the way out then? Or do they think a ‘certifiable starter’ will be happy as a six?
Always liked Rui. Thought he’d be a late bloomer. Since ge started playing basketball late in life. But he’s not really progressing. And it seems he’s soft. With all these mental issues.
Crowder for Rui is a good trade imo. Probably can squeeze a pick from Wizards (2nd rd).
“And it seems he’s soft. With all these mental issues.”
Having mental health issues does not make one ‘soft’, FYI.
Yes it does. Means you don’t play. You need help go get it. We got a gm to win. Professional sports is not where you have issues. Real or made up. We are here to play. Not babysit. Professional sports and mental issues don’t mix. You go get it right. Then come back.
If you got things in your head. That take priority to playing. Then you are playing soft. Team doesn’t need that. Go learn to play and learn what soft means.
“Professional sports is not where you have issues.”
lmao dude. You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, either about sports or about mental illness. I suppose you think John Wall is soft. Ignorant as usual, Al.
@Al – the only thing that’s soft is your knowledge of basketball and apparently people. Quite a few players out there with issues and I’m sure some who you root for and have a high opinion of. Be humble and empathetic – think before you respond.
Cam seems like he’s happy underachieving. He seems satisfied with an NBA contract. Playing to be the best he can be. Is not a priority it seems. Too bad, cause he does have talent. I think it’s best to use him in a multi player trade. Like a package for Zach …..
Lavine would not be wise for the Knicks. But he maybe all that is out there. The Spurs do have sone intriguing players too. OKC is not trading SGA.
Rather Zach , not really a SGA guy. I think MSG would bring out the best in him.
It seems Bulls might break it up. DeRozan will be 34 this season. Ball is still questionable. Vucevic is going to be a FA. They have things to address.
Usually guys like that at least try their hardest on their contract year. He had some good games this season but zero consistency. Obviously NYK isn’t getting a 1st for him, but if I were a team like LAL I’d take a flier on him for a decent 2nd with how bad they need any wing sized guys. Hard to be worse than some of the guys they have. But ya the upside of Cam just isn’t there anymore, people still holding out hope are crazy. Maybe he can turn in to like an 8th man in a rotation or something but it’s hard to see him being much better than that unless something drastic changes about his work ethic etc.
Reddish played some good minutes in the limited time he saw the floor before being yanked out of the rotation.
The Knicks are winning, so can’t argue with the decision to play Quickley, McBride and Grimes, but the tight rotation is more about getting maximum effort out of fewer guys than it is sitting players who can’t play or don’t compete.
Having tighter rotations, and giving more minutes to fewer players has worked out, it just so happens that Reddish, Rose and Fournier got the bench seats, but it worked out for the Knicks, the guys they benched have or had more trade value than the guys who are now developing into effective players in their own right.
Knicks have the pieces to swing a big trade, will be interesting to see if they can get back more than a ’27 protected first round pick from the Lakers – that would be a travesty if that’s all the Knicks can get for Reddish and Fournier, and Rose for that matter.
Rose is an interesting situation, because I think he likes being on the Knicks, and he’s likely tired of being a journeyman, they love him in Chicago but hard to go back to a place that was such a disappointment in so many ways early in his career with all those injuries hard to relive all that in some way. But he’s only 34, and I personally believe he’s as good or better than the guy that starts ahead of him, so it’s a tough spot to be in because Brunson has the contract and is going to get the minutes. But if Rose was getting those minutes his numbers would be right in line with what Brunson is putting up.
Thunder could be a fit for Collins. Would take them trading a bunch of players to make the money work, but neither Bazely or Aleksej are wowing anyone. Collins is shooting terribly but he would be 2nd to SGA as a scoring option which probably will boost his production. And with his poor play do the Thunder have to give up any real assets? I think not. Hawks can see if they can get more out of Bazely. I think it would really be trading some of the players around to other teams with an open roster spot.
Crowder would be great for the wizards too
Do Hachi for Crowder and the Kuzma/Barnes deal you’d have a real solid team.
Mitchell Beal Crowder Barnes KP
Really really good defence, lead by an elite scorer and KP who is himself a match up nightmare. Crowder and Barnes as the complimentary scorers both can give you buckets when you need and space the floor.
Rui, in the right situation, could really blossom as a potential six man/scoring option off the bench.
Him and Cam Payne could really get the Suns second unit back to being a force.