The Cavaliers should avoid trading for Jae Crowder

A great team is more than just the skills belonging to the names on paper. If the personalities can’t coexist past a certain level, then a squad is doomed.

That hasn’t been an issue for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Donovan Mitchell’s integration in the rotation alongside two All-Stars and an up-and-coming player has been seamless. For this, all parties involved deserve credit for making it work.

Ahead of the Feb. 9 deadline, there are likely to be many suitors looking for additional wing help. The Cleveland Cavaliers could use some assistance in this department. This is not a knock on Caris LeVert, Cedi Osman, Lamar Stevens and Isaac Okoro. They are serviceable players who have picked up the slack in the different spurts of time Dean Wade has missed.

Cleveland’s defensive metrics are solid too. Opponents shoot below league average from long range against the Cavs, and they are the second-best of 30 teams at protecting the paint. Even with a small backcourt that can get blown by easily, the second line of defense often forces a kick outside for a tougher shot.

The Cavaliers are not a perfect team, but they have a good thing going and appear to be a year or two ahead of schedule in the results business. Is it the right move to make some swaps to capitalize on the squad’s window at a chip, or is it the wrong decision because it plays into immediate gratification, and it’s wrong to fix what is not broken?

After their latest victory, the Cavs are only two games behind the Milwaukee Bucks for first place in the Eastern Conference, with 39% of the season in the books. They didn’t get to this position by accident. It is feasible that Cleveland will end up with the #1 spot in the conference if they start consistently winning on the road and improve to an above .500 record outside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

The Cavs are limited with what they can offer anyway because two of the pieces that would likely get the most value on the market are LeVert and Kevin Love. Both are unrestricted free agents after this season. Despite that, I’ve seen talented executives turn water into wine when more than two teams are involved in an exchange.

Perhaps the president of basketball ops, Koby Altman, can do something similar. I have one suggestion: Avoid Jae Crowder, a player who has long been mentioned as a rumored potential target or suggested trade target, and was recently by Bleacher Report.

The Cavaliers should steer clear of potentially trading for Crowder.

Phoenix’s disgruntled forward has willingly sat out of all his team’s games. Crowder alleges his trade request has nothing to do with his role on the team, but he hasn’t seemingly provided a concrete answer. Maybe he got sick and tired of Phoenix. Or, possibly, he’s upset that he will not command the contract he thinks he is worth on the market. Regardless of his unhappiness, the man has revealed his true character as a selfish player.

When Phoenix’s forward Cam Johnson tore his meniscus on Nov. 4, Crowder was nowhere to be found. Since then, the Suns have a 13-10 record. They could have used the veteran experience of someone who competed in back-to-back NBA Finals’ in 2020 and 2021 as #99 did, but sometimes fools don’t know how good they have it.

How long would it take for Crowder to pull off the same underhanded maneuver to another outfit as soon as the situation goes left for him?

The Cavaliers don’t need someone as self-serving to contaminate the locker room with his malignant attitude. Reminder: it didn’t work out last time he was in Cleveland as LeBron’s teammate. He’s the same guy who said he
“got back to having fun” as soon as he was traded to Utah.

Someone else should trade for this 3-and-D player at their peril.