Earlier than the 2022-23 season, Jae Crowder refused to play for the Phoenix Suns. Two years later, it took till the week of Thanksgiving earlier than he was near securing an NBA job.
The Sacramento Kings are reportedly near bringing within the 34-year-old Crowder after accidents sidelined forwards DeMar DeRozan and Trey Lyles, the latter of whom will probably be out no less than three weeks. Crowder spent final season and the tip of the 2022-23 season with the Milwaukee Bucks, the place he averaged 6.4 factors and three.4 rebounds.
Crowder went to the NBA Finals in consecutive years with the Miami Warmth and Phoenix Suns. However after the Suns misplaced within the second spherical of the 2022 playoffs, Crowder discovered he was going to lose his beginning spot to Cam Johnson for 2022-23. He additionally wasn’t getting a contract extension.
So Crowder stayed home awaiting a commerce, although he denied that his eventual departure had something to do with dropping his beginning job, and stories acknowledged he wasn’t upset over cash.
That commerce lastly arrived when the Suns made a blockbuster deal for Kevin Durant, which despatched Crowder to Brooklyn alongside Mikal Bridges, Johnson and a beneficiant collection of draft picks. Sarcastically, had he caught with the workforce, Crowder in all probability would have had his beginning spot again with Johnson gone as a substitute of turning into a throw-in to the commerce.
The Bucks traded 5 second-round picks to get Crowder, however he by no means performed lots, maybe because of the rust from sitting out for six months. Within the playoffs, Crowder solely appeared in 4 video games and averaged 1.8 factors. After the season, he acquired a brand new deal from Milwaukee — for the veteran minimal.
Now, Crowder has an opportunity to earn one other veteran’s minimal if he can present assist as a backup ahead who can shoot threes for the Kings. However two years after being a starter on a 64-win Suns workforce, it is an enormous step down for a participant whose delight seemingly value him dearly.
