With Jae Crowder officially requesting a trade from the Phoenix Suns, speculation has been rife on what kind of value the franchise could garner in return for the veteran forward.
The 32-year-old is on an expiring $10.2 million contract, meaning teams we’ll have to offer something reasonable, at least from a salary standpoint. However, unless they can quickly come to terms on a contract extension with Crowder, then they may also be unwilling to give up too much of note.
There should be no shortage of options as the Phoenix Suns look to deal veteran forward Jae Crowder over the coming weeks.
Speaking to the media earlier in the week, Suns coach Monty Williams was keen for his team to deal Crowder before the start of the regular season.
Monty Williams said he'd like to have someone in "by opening night" in regards to Jae Crowder as #Suns are looking to trade him, but is happy with the team he has.
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) September 28, 2022
Phoenix general manager James Jones faces a tough balance between getting a deal done in the short-term, while also ensuring they receive adequate compensation. Then there’s also the matter of which team Crowder is traded to, and whether the Suns would be willing to send him to a genuine rival.
In a recent article for Hoops Habit, FanSided colleague Dylan Carter has proposed five deals that send Crowder to a playoff contender. Four of these are to fellow Western Conference teams, immediately putting into question the Suns willingness to make a trade happen.
But to be fair, some of these deals offer intriguing prospects that Phoenix would have to heavily consider. The Suns could do with depth everywhere besides the center position, so the inclusion of any genuine rotational pieces does provide food for thought.
Phoenix would be best served actually adding their own assets to Crowder to find an upgrade, though that’s often hard in a situation where the player has requested a trade.
Here we rank the five proposed trades from a Suns perspective: