Getty Jae Crowder #99, formerly of the Boston Celtics
It’s been over a month since The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that Jae Crowder and the Phoenix Suns had mutually agreed to part ways and would work on a trade, and he still remains with the team. There have been reports indicating that there’s interest around the league, but nothing substantial has come as of now.
With Crowder available, could the Boston Celtics be interested in bringing him back? Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer reported on October 12 that they weren’t “involved in Crowder’s trade situation.” An Eastern Conference executive elaborated to Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney on what’s stopping the Celtics from reuniting with Crowder.
“They’d be interested in him if there were a deal to be made, but there is nothing that makes sense there,” the exec told Deveney. “They’re interested. Every team is interested, but it is hard to line up the contracts in a way that makes sense.”
The executive then brought up the trade scenarios involving the Suns and the Celtics that don’t make any sense.
“Are the Celtics going to give up Payton Pritchard and Grant Williams to get Jae Crowder? Of course not. They’re not giving up Derrick White for him. So where is the offer? There is no move there that makes sense. ‘Not interested,’ a lot of times, that just means we don’t have the pieces to make a deal,” the executive said.
The executive added how the Celtics will approach the Crowder situation if he hits the buyout market.
“If they were to buy out Crowder, I guarantee you the Celtics would be at the front of the line trying to sign him.”
Crowder Clarifies Misconception
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported on September 26 that Crowder requested a trade because he “was informed over the summer that he may lose his starting job this season.” According to Crowder, that wasn’t the case.
On October 26, TNT’s Chris Haynes reported during a Suns-Warriors game what Crowder told him regarding his fallout with the Suns. While Crowder did not explain why he has requested a trade, he made it clear that the prospect of losing his starting job did not factor into it.
“Honestly, this is unfamiliar ground for me. This is my 11th year, and I’ve always been in camp and started the year off with my team. The business of basketball has taken its course, and changes have come. I do not want to get into the details just yet, but it’s definitely not true of the narrative being pushed about me not starting or not. I can honestly say that,” Crowder told Haynes.
My @NBAonTNT in-game report on my conversation with Suns forward Jae Crowder, who is away from the team and waiting on a trade: ‘It’s definitely not true of the narrative being pushed about me starting or not.’
Milwaukee Interested in Crowder
On October 24, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that the Milwaukee Bucks, along with the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat, were among the Jae Crowder suitors.
“In addition to the Hawks, the Suns have recently been engaged in talks with the Bucks on a potential Jae Crowder trade, sources said. Milwaukee has registered interest in the veteran forward, who has remained away from the Suns’ organization as both sides work toward a trade. Miami is also believed to be among the current suitors for Crowder, according to league sources,” Charania said.
It makes sense that, at the moment, the Suns are looking to trade with an Eastern Conference opponent because trading him to a Western Conference opponent could potentially get in the way of their playoff ambitions.