Pros and cons of Cavs trade for Suns forward Jae Crowder

Cons of a Cavs trade for Suns forward Jae Crowder

Jae Crowder is a willing shooter and strong defender, but there are two caveats to that characterization. The first is that while Crowder will bomb away from distance, he isn’t always very accurate. Last season he shot just 34.8 percent from 3-point range. Three years ago he started the season in Memphis and shot just 29.3 percent in 45 games, then hit 44.5 percent with the Miami Heat down the stretch. He is one of the league’s most pronounced hot-and-cold shooters.

Crowder’s willingness to at least take the shots opens up the court and is valuable, but the Cavs will need some to go in to make him a worthy starter at the 3.

The other difficulty is that while Crowder is a really good defender, he specializes in larger opponents. Starting Crowder wouldn’t give the Cavs much roster flexibility in defending opposing guards. Crowder isn’t Andrew Wiggins or Jimmy Butler, combo forwards who can slide up to take on elite scoring guards; he is more like Harrison Barnes or Jerami Grant.

Finally, Crowder is 32 years old. He lines up with the timeline of the Cavs’ aging bench, not their young core. If Father Time comes knocking, any subsequent contract the Cavs sign him to could look bad. Trading for just one season of Crowder makes a deal less valuable to the team.