Where Will Jae Crowder End Up?
Just over a year ago, James Harden, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant highlighted a championship contending Brooklyn Nets roster.
Now, none of the three stars remain, as the Nets have moved on from Irving and Durant in a span of about four days.
Late Wednesday night and/or early Thursday morning, however you want to look at it, the Brooklyn Nets finalized a deal with the Phoenix Suns, resulting in superstar Kevin Durant and TJ Warren being traded to Phoenix in exchange for Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, Jae Crowder, four unprotected first-round picks and one first-round pick swap.
Bridges, Johnson and all the draft assets the Nets have acquired for Durant and Warren will be key building blocks for the future of this franchise, but Crowder's time on Brooklyn's roster may be short-lived.
According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Nets are expected to explore trade scenarios for Jae Crowder ahead of the trade deadline on Thursday afternoon.
Since requesting a trade from the Suns, the Milwaukee Bucks have been a team highly interested in Crowder, but they were never able to reach a deal with Phoenix given their lack of enticing assets. Grayson Allen has been the key name they have looked to move in a deal for Crowder.
The Miami Heat are another team who has shown interest in Jae Crowder, as he was a key part of their roster when they went to the NBA Finals in 2020.
The New York Knicks have been looking to make moves to further their chances of making the playoffs this season and given his "3-and-D" nature on the wing, Crowder could be a key veteran they show interest in. However, it would be difficult to see Brooklyn and New York coming together to make a deal.
One other quiet team to keep an eye on is the Cleveland Cavaliers. They currently sit five games out of first-place in the Eastern Conference and Cleveland has been searching for better production at the wing position.
Jae Crowder is certainty a player they could pursue, but the Cavaliers do not have much draft capital to trade out.
The Atlanta Hawks have shown interest in Crowder in the past, the Philadelphia 76ers are looking to add better bench depth and even the Denver Nuggets have been said to be in the market for a better wing defender.
All of these teams could have a level of interest in trading for Jae Crowder ahead of Thursday's deadline, a player who is set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer and will be viewed as a "one-year rental" type of talent.
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