Who's Right, Who's Wrong in Jae Crowder Situation
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The Phoenix Suns have enjoyed some very fine success over the last two years, receiving extraordinary contributions from stars such as Devin Booker and Chris Paul.
Yet their role players have also played a part in the Suns reaching some of their goals, and one of them is now on his way out of town.
Jae Crowder, who arrived from free agency in late 2020, has supplied the Suns a 3-and-D man since joining the squad.
Now, it's only a matter of time before the Suns and Crowder cut ties with each other.
Rumblings on a new change of scenery for Crowder began early in the offseason with Phoenix trying to improve their roster via trade, holding Crowder (who is heading into the last year of his deal) as the main chip in a potential deal.
That's not to say Crowder is a victim here, however. His presence on social media drew a very clear line in the sand over the offseason.
This week, Arizona Sports' John Gambadoro reported the Suns refused a contract extension for the 33-year-old while also reducing his role.
Cameron Johnson, who the team is negotiations with for a second contract, is expected to be the starter. At the team's Media Day, he said there's no bad blood between the two:
"That's the thing that you learn most about being in the NBA is that guys will do what's best for them. And to a certain extent, guys should. You're your best advocate. You're your own advocate. If that's a career move that he feels he needs to make, as a teammate you want what's best for your guys," said Johnson.
"You want what's best for your boys. There's no bad blood between Jae and I. Jae's looked out for me over the past couple years. He's taught me a lot. He's shown me a lot. And he's somebody that I could always call and be like, 'what do you see during this? Talk to me. How do you guard this? What is your advice on this?' So, at the end of the day, I feel it's just business. It's him trying to do what's best for his career."
An end of an era is coming in Phoenix: Who's responsible?
Over the summer, the picture painted definitely made Crowder look like the guilty party. From his tweets to pinning a comment about another team wanting him on Instagram, nothing from the outside suggested Phoenix was at fault.
However, Gambadoro's latest report suggests Crowder wanted to continue (as a starter at least) but the Suns wanted to reduce his role in the final year of his deal.
Crowder feels like he still has plenty of gas left in the tank, but it doesn't appear Phoenix is willing to find out.
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