NBA insider reveals the Milwaukee Bucks’ offer in Jae Crowder trade talks

The Milwaukee Bucks have been in hot pursuit of disgruntled wing Jae Crowder for months now, and things have begun to intensify further.

According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Phoenix Suns have granted Crowder permission to speak with the Bucks. That is certainly a rarity for any target, but perhaps the Bucks want to get a better idea of where exactly Crowder is at in his conditioning and how he would feel about a trade to Milwaukee, given that he has not yet played in a game this season.

In addition to that update, Charania revealed that current proposals between the Bucks and Suns include George Hill, Jordan Nwora, Serge Ibaka, and second round draft picks. He added that both teams have been looking for a third team to get involved to possibly expand things, which has been the case for a while.

NBA insider reveals the Milwaukee Bucks’ offer in Jae Crowder trade talks

For the longest time, it seemed like Grayson Allen would be the key piece in a Crowder trade, given his $8.5 million salary for this season. However, Charania’s reporting indicates that the Bucks have other ideas and would rather send out three other players to match Crowder’s $10.2 million deal. That is not to say that Allen could not eventually end up in a modified Crowder trade package, but the current word is that the Bucks would understandably rather keep him around in this scenario.

Keeping Allen while trading Hill, Nwora, and Ibaka to match Crowder’s salary would be a significant win for the Bucks. Allen, while somewhat inconsistent at times, has proven to be a quality fit in the starting five over the last two years. Meanwhile, the other three players have not been featured in Milwaukee’s nightly rotation consistently, and Ibaka is bound to be on the move regardless after he and the Bucks agreed to find him a new home recently.

Not only would this particular trade framework allow the Bucks to keep Allen and get the forward they have longed for over the last few months, but it would also open up a couple of roster spots for the team to use on the buyout market. The Ringer’s Chris Vernon recently linked Will Barton to the Bucks if he were to be bought out, and this trade scenario would help in the team’s pursuit to add more talent like Barton.

For now, this is just another rumor. There are still 10 days to go until the actual trade deadline, and anything can happen between now and February 9. However, Crowder to Milwaukee appears to be gaining some real traction here.

Stay tuned for updates on how Crowder’s meeting with the Milwaukee Bucks goes and whether or not he will end up in Wisconsin full-time in the coming days.