Aside from death, taxes, and the Milwaukee Bucks being interested in Jae Crowder this season, nothing is certain in life.
The Bucks have been linked to the veteran forward from the moment he requested a trade from the Phoenix Suns before the season. Despite Milwaukee’s best efforts, they have not been able to pry Crowder away from Phoenix, and with the February 9 trade deadline nearing, they are running out of time. Given how many reports have come out regarding the Bucks’ interest in Crowder, they are destined to ramp up their pursuit of him over the next few weeks here.
The Milwaukee Bucks appear determined to acquire Jae Crowder via trade
Reports of Milwaukee’s interest in Crowder have been consistent for months, but more details about their avid pursuit have surfaced recently. Per The Athletic’s Shams Charania (Subscription required), the Bucks, Suns, and Houston Rockets were close to a deal involving Crowder back in December. The Bucks would have sent players and four second round picks to Houston to land Crowder, the Suns would have gotten one or both of Kenyon Martin Jr. and Eric Gordon, and the Rockets would have gotten players and four second round picks from the Bucks.
The deal fell through because the Rockets wanted more draft picks. Charania noted in that article that the Bucks could seek another third team to facilitate the deal, which was in the cards.
According to Yahoo! Sports’ Jake Fischer, a three-team concept between the Bucks, Suns, and Washington Wizards was on the table. In the deal, the Bucks would have got Crowder, the Suns would have got Rui Hachimura, and the Wizards would have gotten salary and three second round picks. However, that idea was short-lived because the Wizards abruptly traded Hachimura to the Los Angles Lakers on January 23. While a trade between these three teams still remains possible, especially with Hoops Wire’s Sam Amico reporting the Wizards are interested in Serge Ibaka, the Hachimura trade makes things a lot harder.
It seems inevitable that the Bucks will continue trying to get Crowder before the trade deadline. No team has been linked to him more frequently, and the front office has seemingly expressed no interest in giving up now. The Bucks offering four second rounders for Crowder was a clear enough indication that they want the power forward badly, and understandably so.
NBA insider Marc Stein (Subscription required) reported that after a four-month hiatus, teams are starting to worry about Crowder’s conditioning and how long it may take to get him acclimated to his new team. Of course, Stein noted that the Bucks remain interested in Crowder. The forward’s time away from the game has not deterred the from making a push. As these rumors indicate, the Suns have to move on from Crowder soon. Teams are starting to worry, and that could spell out trouble for the Suns, who need to capitalize and get some valuable assets while they still can.
Stay tuned to see if Milwaukee’s Jae Crowder pursuit ends with the Marquette product back in Wisconsin for the latter portion of the 2022-23 season.