3 former Cavaliers players the team could bring back in free agency

Player No. 2: Jae Crowder

The Cavaliers are always in search of a good veteran defender and Jae Crowder would certainly help the Cavs in that department if they were to try to acquire the former Cav, who most recently played with the Milwaukee Bucks. Crowder could reportedly very well return to the Bucks, who were surprisingly beaten by the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs.

It wouldn’t hurt to pursue Crowder, who the Cavs were rumored to have interest in before he was dealt to Milwaukee, though.

Crowder also played with that LeBron James squad and post-NBA Championship team from two seasons before during the 2017-18 season. It was certainly an active time for Crowder that year as he and the aforementioned Derrick Rose were traded in February of 2018 in a crazy three-team trade. It landed him and Rose in Utah with the Jazz. Iman Shumpert of the Cavs was also traded to the Sacramento Kings. In return the Cavs got a veteran guard George Hill and forward Rodney Hood to come to town.

Obviously, things weren’t working out well at that point when Crowder was here in Cleveland but maybe now would be different with a new group of young Cavs talent here.

Crowder is an outstanding defensive-minded player and has been helpful whereever he’s played. Before playing in Milwaukee this past season, he had been out in Phoenix playing with the Suns where he was helping them reach new levels of success. If you needed stops on the defensive end, then insert Crowder and he can get things done.

As for his offense, he has been averaging about 10 points a game and pulling down about five boards in recent years. He’s been around a 41 percent shooter from the floor and has been decent from three by shooting about 35 percent.

Crowder could be a valuable three-and-D presence for the Cavaliers.