The Golden State Warriors reportedly have interest in acquiring stranded Phoenix Suns forward Jae Crowder. Just because their prospective partnership would placate wants and needs of parties, though, hardly means Crowder will soon be bound for the Bay.
Here are four obstacles that complicate Golden State's pursuit of the veteran forward.
3. Salary-matching hurdles
Crowder's $10.1 million salary for this season would be easy for most teams to match, but not Golden State.
As a taxpaying team, the Warriors can't take back any more than 125% of the total salary (plus $1000,000) they send out in any trade. League rules prevent Golden State from moving free agent additions Donte DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green until December 15th, while Andre Iguodala becomes trade eligible on December 26th and Kevon Looney on January 15th.
Looney isn't going anywhere, at least barring a trade return that nets the Warriors a significant upgrade at center. Iguodala might as well have a no-trade clause, and DiVincenzo's two-way value off the bench is growing more apparent by the game. Green is clearly settling into his place in Steve Kerr's new rotation.
Still, DiVincenzo and Green would be expendable in the right trade, with the right team. They occupy different roles for Golden State than Crowder would, though, and Phoenix may not have use for either.
What role would DiVincenzo play in a Suns backcourt that already features Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Cam Payne and Landry Shamet? Green still has a way to go before proving he's worthy of a permanent rotation spot for a contender.
Pump the brakes on the Warriors selling low on Jonathan Kuminga, too. His $5.7 million deal would be helpful salary ballast in a trade for Crowder, but cash-strapped Golden State is surely wary of parting ways with a cost-controlled wing whose long-term two-way intrigue persists—especially if the player coming back expects a new payday next summer.
The same holds true for Moses Moody, though his inability to crack the lineup this season casts some doubt on the Warriors' confidence in him.
The simplest path to making the math work here? Putting James Wiseman and his $9.6 million salary in the package for Crowder.
Joe Lacob's outsized personal affinity for the former No. 2 overall pick is common knowledge, and Phoenix doesn't exactly need a raw seven-footer who's proven unplayable for a chief Western Conference rival. None of that changes financial realities of the Warriors' roster construction, though.
If Golden State brings in Crowder, Wiseman will almost surely be going out—a dynamic every team potentially involved in this hypothetical trade scenario looks at differently.
2. A half-season rental?
The genesis of Crowder's trade request from Phoenix was the team's decision not to engage in extension negotiations with him before 2022-23. His imminent demotion to the bench behind fourth-year forward Cam Johnson only made Crowder want to bail on the Suns even more.
Circumstances are different now than they were in early fall. Crowder, 32, only has so many years of high-level basketball left, and has already missed a quarter of the regular season. As much as he wants a new contract from his next team, it's safe to assume Crowder's main goal now is just getting out of Phoenix with the chance to win a ring come June.
Golden State represents just such an opportunity, and Crowder's acclimation to its complicated read-and-react offensive system may not be as steep as other prospective in-season additions.
Remember, he was a key cog of the Miami Heat team that advanced to the 2020 NBA Finals on the back of an offense that prioritized off-ball movement and constantly leveraged the threat of elite shooters. Crowder wouldn't start for the Warriors, obviously, but could cement himself as a fixture of Kerr's closing lineups depending on the opposition.
One problem: Crowder is no doubt looking for one more big-money payday, and Golden State would be hard-pressed to give it to him.
Lacob has already drawn a $400 million line in the sand as the limit for this team's total payroll. Shedding Wiseman's salary from next year's books would cut the Warriors' repeater tax payout by about $80 million, keeping them comfortably below that $400 million threshold.
Would Golden State really be comfortable giving up on Wiseman for a half-season rental of Crowder?
Both Nicolas Batum and PJ Tucker signed deals worth just north of $11 million annually last summer. Crowder is younger than those role-playing peers, set to hit the open market in July with far more money available across the league.
He'll want more in 2023-24 than Wiseman's $12.1 million salary for next season, and Golden State has no other eight-figure contracts to discard without compromising its chances to compete for a title in Stephen Curry's extended prime.
Maybe the Warriors grit their teeth, swallow hard and push their chips in to go back-to-back this season, knowing they're likely to lose Crowder for nothing in free agency. Joining the super exclusive group of teams throughout league to win five championships would certainly soften the blow of his departure.
But if putting together a trade package costs Golden State Moody or Kuminga in addition to Wiseman, Crowder's brief addition may be a non-starter for the front office.
1. Third team complications
It bears asking again: What would the Suns want with Wiseman or a trade built around DiVincenzo?
Crowder getting to the Bay would involve the inclusion of a third team that sends Phoenix a player who ups its chances to win a championship in 2022-23. Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus proposed the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs as possible trade partners for the Warriors and Suns.
Houston sending Eric Gordon and Kenyon Martin Jr. to Phoenix with Wiseman and Dario Saric going to Houston would indeed fulfill trade requirements, making the Suns even more dangerous at the top of the Western Conference.
But adding Wiseman in exchange for Gordon and Martin is a losing asset play for the Rockets, especially considering they already have Alperen Sengun as a center of the future and are right in the thick of the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes.
Would either Golden State or Phoenix be willing to throw in a future first-round sweetener?
That may make sense for the Suns, but the Warriors not only need as many cheap young players as they can get going forward, but moving a first-round pick would require the Memphis Grizzlies relaxing restrictions on the 2024 first-rounder Golden State already owes them. The Grizzlies have also been linked to Crowder in trade rumors.
Memphis' lacking interest in helping the Warriors here doesn't need much explanation. Phoenix could balk at trading Crowder to Golden State along those same lines, only willing to move him to a fellow contender for a home run return.
There are many moving parts to the Warriors acquiring for Crowder. And unfortunately for Golden State, the more complicated a hypothetical trade is, the less likely it is to come to fruition–near-perfect team and player fit be damned.
Follow Us
Subscribe