Report: Warriors among ‘several' Jae Crowder trade suitors

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The Warriors haven't started the 2022-23 NBA season the way they likely envisioned, with a 9-10 record and just one win on the road.

Could reinforcements be on the way? Trade rumors have swirled around Golden State as of late thanks to the team's slow start, and Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus reported Wednesday that the Warriors are among "several suitors" for dormant Phoenix Suns forward Jae Crowder.

Crowder has been on the trade block since the offseason and hasn't played since the Suns lost Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals to the Dallas Mavericks. The Suns have wanted to move on from Crowder for a while now, and the 32-year-old is in the last year of his contract with Phoenix after averaging 9.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists across 67 games during the 2021-22 NBA season.

One league executive told Pincus that an eventual deal for Crowder could include "three, four or even five NBA franchises" when all is said and done.

So where do the Warriors fit?

Golden State's two-way timeline has been under a microscope this season as they attempt to win with stars Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green while also developing youngsters Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and James Wiseman, who recently was assigned to the G League.

The Warriors have made it clear they still believe in Wiseman's potential and have stated in the past that none of their young core is available for trade.

But their pair of two-way players, Anthony Lamb and Ty Jerome, both have averaged more minutes than Kuminga and Moody across the team's last five games. And Wiseman has been playing with the Santa Cruz Warriors since last Tuesday with plans for him to stay there "an extended period" of time, coach Steve Kerr said.

With Curry playing the best basketball of his career at age 34 on a team that sits at No. 11 in the Western Conference, exactly how long Golden State is willing to wait for their youthful trio to develop is the question. There are other pieces on the Warriors' roster that could be considered in a trade, but their group of former lottery picks certainly is the most enticing.

Crowder, with 10 seasons of NBA experience, would provide an instant veteran presence that has thrived on the court for Golden State in past seasons, as well as a clear boost in size at 6-foot-6 as the 7-foot-1 Wiseman works to meet expectations.

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There's still plenty of time for the Warriors to figure things out without making a trade, of course, especially as Thompson appears to have found his shot and the team has won its last three games with all of the starters playing.

And as Dub Nation knows all too well, Golden State tends to prove its doubters wrong.

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