Phoenix Suns: 3 trade options for Jae Crowder post trade request

Phoenix Suns trade Jae Crowder and 2025 second-round pick to Charlotte Hornets for Kelly Oubre Jr.

Bringing back a former player is always heartwarming for fans, especially when that player produced his best season of his career with the franchise. The Charlotte Hornets are in a state of flux right now with the Miles Bridges situation to play out, and regardless, they don’t appear like a team capable of making the Eastern Conference Finals.

This could lead them to moving on from players like Oubre, even if he proved impactful for them at points last season. Taking on a bench role, the 26-year-old averaged the least minutes of his last four NBA seasons, subsequently averaging the least amount of points in that timeframe at 15 per game.

From a Phoenix perspective, Oubre may present as the most like-for-like Crowder replacement there possibly is. Offensively, he’s an extremely willing catch-and-shoot player, often to his detriment. He’s capable of both winning and losing a game for you with his shooting, knocking down threes at 33.1% across his career.

His career-best season came with the Suns in 2019-20, averaging 18.7 points and 6.4 rebounds on 45.4% from the field and 35.3% from three-point range. While it would be difficult to envisage him replicating those numbers in what would be a reduced role, he’d be a handy addition to replace Johnson in a sixth-man role.

Oubre and Crowder share similar value from both a trade and contract perspective. Given the latter’s request, Phoenix would need to sweeten the deal, likely with one or multiple second-round picks.