Jae Crowder Posts Cryptic Tweet; Is Trade Coming Soon?

The Phoenix Suns have 17 days to trade Jae Crowder, and it appears Crowder suggests something is in the works sooner rather than later according to his latest tweet.

⏳🕰⌛️
— JAE CROWDER (@CJC9BOSS) January 23, 2023

Crowder and the Suns have been separated since before the season began, dating all the way back to the decision to start Cam Johnson over him in the summer.

Trade rumors have swirled since, but the Suns have yet to take any bites on their power forward. Crowder is in the final year of his contract and wants an extension, something the Suns weren't willing to meet.

Phoenix could have potentially swapped him for Washington Wizards forward Rui Hachimura, but NBA insider Marc Stein said the Suns only want a "starting caliber player" in exchange. Today, Hachimura was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Kendrick Nunn and three first-round picks.

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Wizards are now intending to sign forward Kyle Kuzma to a long-term deal, taking away perhaps the biggest name the Suns were linked with in trade talks.

Teams such as the Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat have shown interest among others in Crowder, yet nothing has come to fruition.

It's been fairly hard for the Suns to make any movement in the trade market thanks to some odd restrictions placed in the deal of Robert Sarver selling the team. There's a stipulation that a trade involving any player who makes over $10 million (Jae Crowder) must be approved by Sarver.

New owner Mat Ishbia is pushing for the sale to be finalized sooner rather than later so business can be orchestrated and Phoenix can add some much needed help.

After playing for the Miami Heat, Crowder was added to the Suns and immediately provided some much needed three-and-D help during the last two seasons.

The Suns just recently got back to .500 after a barrage of injuries left Phoenix shorthanded for quite some time. Their initial starting lineup of Devin Booker-Chris Paul-Mikal Bridges-Cam Johnson-Deandre Ayton has only played six games together thus far.