Zach Lowe of ESPN released a podcast on the 27th of September titled Friedell, Marks, and Lopez. During his discussion with fellow ESPN contributor Bobby Marks, Lowe discussed hypothetical Jae Crowder trades. Jae Crowder is very clearly on the trade block. So much so that Crowder made a public statement on twitter where he makes it known that he intends to be on a new team this upcoming season despite having one year left on his contract.
ONE MUST SEEK WORK WHERE HE IS WANTED.. WHERE HE IS NEEDED.! I AM THANKFUL FOR WHAT THESE PAST 2 YRS HAVE TAUGHT ME.! NOW I MUST TAKE ON ANOTHER CHALLENGE WITH CONTINUED HARDWORK & DEDICATION.! FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO CLOSED THE DOOR ON ME…. THANK YOU! 99 BACK SOON.! 🥷🏾🤫🤐
— JAE CROWDER (@CJC9BOSS) September 25, 2022
Proposed Trade
At about 49:43 of the pod Zach Lowe discusses the possibility of Jae Crowder on the Milwaukee Bucks. Lowe brings up how the Bucks could use somebody to fill the P.J. Tucker sized hole in their rotation and Jae Crowder might just be the right guy. The trade he mentions would be Grayson Allen for Jae Crowder. I recommend this article by Tylercarl03. Tyler goes into the specifics of the trade and includes a second round pick for the Suns. One additional note is that earlier in the podcast, Zach Lowe reports that the Suns will not want to add any extra salary. So any trades will have to bring in less money than they send out. Grayson will make $8.5 million (for the next two seasons) and Crowder $10.2 million. Meaning at least monetarily this trade would satisfy the Suns.
Lowe and Marks ultimately seemed worried that even if the trades makes sense money wise it might not be the best fit for the Suns. The Suns signed Landry Shamet to an extension last year that is just kicking in that will average around $10.6 million the next four seasons. Grayson Allen and Landry Shamet are not the same player but they would occupy a similar spot. That spot being a part of the back up guard rotation alongside Cameron Payne and behind Chris Paul and Devin Booker.
Why Lowe is Linking the Bucks to Crowder
Some additional context is that Lowe mentions that the Bucks were “sniffing around Jeremi Grant in Detroit before Portland swooped in.” The Bucks would love to add another long and versatile defender to their team. The problem is that long and versatile defenders who aren’t a negative on offense are usually expensive. Both in terms of salary and what it will take to add them to the team. I wrote recently: The Bucks Players Are Getting Older & What That Means. I firmly believe this is still a championship caliber team but, they are not a young team. That is despite their star being only 28 years old. Any opportunity they have to add to the squad without relinquishing one of their 4 core players is a no brainer. They might not have the best offer for Jae Crowder but it is clear that the Bucks are making honest efforts to improve this team. Being linked with Crowder currently and Grant previously is evidence of that.
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