NBA Insider: Teams Say Trading With Suns is 'Challenging'

The Phoenix Suns are having a hard time trading power forward Jae Crowder. ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst has an idea as to why.

The Phoenix Suns have been searching for a trade partner for Jae Crowder for months, and although a few deals have been talked through and constructed, nothing has come to fruition. 

With the start of 2023 signaling serious basketball business is ahead, the time is ticking on Phoenix general manager James Jones to get something helpful in return for the power forward. 

If you're wondering why it's taking the Suns so long to solidify a deal, ESPN's Brian Windhorst went on his podcast The Hoop Collective with Tim MacMahon and Tim Bontemps and shared some info:

NBA Teams Say Trading With Suns is 'Challenging' 

"A few things on the Jae Crowder front. No. 1: The Suns have a very high standard when it comes to doing transactions. They have had very good transactions under James Jones … It's challenging to do trade business with the Suns, teams will tell you that. There's some teams where you see them make a lot of trade transactions, the Suns are not one of them, and that's played out with Jae Crowder," said Windhorst. 

"On the Jae Crowder front, one the issues is that there isn't a straight-up trade the Suns have liked for him, so they've tried to do these three-team trades … They may have to lower their standard."

It's not as if there's a lack of interest in Crowder as plenty of teams have reportedly shown interest. Yet there are some potential road blocks that make other teams hesitant on pulling the trigger.

"Another thing is: Jae Crowder is an older player who wants a contract. Some teams are nervous about that, so that's been an impediment as well," said Windhorst, who went on to explain that organizational leaders such as James Jones and Monty Williams can be labeled as stubborn.

"My perception, having been around the Suns a little bit, almost more then any other team in the last couple of years: That team has got a lot of reps together. Those core guys have a lot of reps together and there's a laundry list of things they've had to overcome and so they are a little bit more prone to bickering because they know they can get over it. 

"But also Monty Williams' style - while he does have a very well respected leadership style where he can put his arm a player - there's also times where Monty can kind of be stubborn ... Also James Jones, the way he operates as an executive, he can be very stubborn."

It's not uncommon for executives to want to maximize their return in a trade. Recent reports suggested a three-team deal involving the Utah Jazz broke down due to Utah wanting too much on their end, so these sorts of things happen. At the end of the day, valuations on trade pieces are different. 

Surely, the Suns will find a new squad for Crowder. Yet if you're wondering why it's taking a bit longer than expected, we may have discovered why.