Phoenix Suns: Crowder on trade block, should only be moved in two scenarios

It’s been a peculiar offseason for Phoenix Suns veteran Jae Crowder, with the prospect of a trade away from the franchise bubbling for months.

Now, the idea of that seems even more concrete, with ESPN’s Brian Windhorst outlining the Suns plans for Crowder, and the player most expect to take his starting role, Cameron Johnson.

While Jae Crowder may find himself on the trade block at present, he should only be moved by the Phoenix Suns in two specific scenarios.

After speculation that Crowder wanted out of the Suns, largely thanks to his social media activity, Windhorst has officially reported that the 32-year-old is indeed on the trade block.

"“They’re conducting business, they’re in trade negotiations right now. A lot of them are centered around Jae Crowder. Jae Crowder is a player that’s available on the market right now…It’s possible that they could do a deal where they’d bring back more money on…It would not surprise me if the Suns get involved in the negotiations for Bojan Bogdanovic.”"

Crowder had a down season in 2021-22, yet has played a vital role in the Suns rise to a championship contender in his two years at the franchise. There’s little doubt of his value as a winning player, with Crowder himself yesterday responding to a tweet from StatMuse on that very point.

It’s because of this that the Suns should be wary of dealing Crowder just for the sake of it. There’s really only two reasons he should be moved – Ideally, it’s to acquire a player like Bogdanovic or an equivalent/better player. The other reason, a negative and unlikely one, is if Crowder were to become a locker room issue and disruptive presence throughout training camp and the preseason.

Thankfully, Windhorst’s comments would seem to suggest that the Suns are looking to upgrade from Crowder, rather than just trading him as a cost-cutting measure.