The Miami Heat reportedly have a standing offer to the Phoenix Suns for forward Jae Crowder.
Crowder, who has not played all season for the Suns as the two sides try to find a trade, was a part of the Heat team that made the NBA Finals in the 2019-20 season.
“They have a standing offer to the Suns, as I understand it,” one Eastern Conference executive told Heavy Sports. “Phoenix wants to bring things closer to the deadline, to see if someone gets desperate, to see if they could do better or get Miami to add a pick. The Heat are going to do something big, and adding Crowder is probably the starting point, like the least thing they would do.”
Crowder is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2022-23 season, so it would make sense if the Suns wanted to move off of him rather than losing him for nothing in free agency.
According to Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney, Miami made an offer to the Suns that was centered around Duncan Robinson, but the Suns rejected the deal.
“The Suns earlier rejected an offer of Robinson for Crowder, and that is not likely to have changed,” Deveney wrote. “[Caleb] Martin, then, would be the most likely candidate to head to Phoenix, and center Dewayne Dedmon could be added to make the salaries work and keep Miami under the luxury tax.”
It makes sense that the Heat would want to move Robinson, as his contract has become a bit of an issue for Miami since he’s fallen out of the starting lineup. The Heat reportedly have been trying to convince teams that the sharpshooter is an asset ahead of this season’s trade deadline.
Robinson is averaging just 6.9 points per game while shooting a career-worst 36.8 percent from the field and just 33.1 percent from beyond the arc this season.
As for Crowder, he played a key role for the Suns in the 2021-22 season. Last season for Phoenix, Crowder averaged 9.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 39.9 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from beyond the arc.
The Heat could use some more depth at the forward position after P.J. Tucker left in free agency, but the team may not want to trade Martin, who has two more seasons left on his contract after this one, for a rental like Crowder.
Crowder did play a major role for the Heat when they made the NBA Finals, and he’d likely fit in well on the current roster if Miami can find a deal that works.
In 20 games with the Heat in the 2019-20 season, Crowder shot 48.2 percent from the field and 44.5 percent from 3-point range while averaging 11.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.
It was previously reported that Miami would only be interested in Crowder in a buyout situation, but it appears that the team may be willing to make a trade for the Suns forward after all.