Miami Heat Should Wait on Jae Crowder Deal amid Latest NBA Trade Rumors

As the NBA inches closer to the start of the regular season on Tuesday, the future of Phoenix Suns forward Jae Crowder remains uncertain.

The 32-year-old has requested a trade, and the Suns appear willing to honor that request. However, no deal appears imminent, although several teams are reportedly interested.

The Atlanta Hawks have had discussions with Phoenix, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium. The Milwaukee Bucks also have "internal interest," ESPN's Zach Lowe reported. The Cleveland Cavaliers have been linked to Crowder as well, though NBA insider Marc Stein refuted this idea.

"I've heard this in only one place, and trade discussions tend to be fluid, but I was told over the weekend that any talk of Cleveland swapping Cedi Osman for Crowder, is no more than that. At least for now," Stein wrote.

If Crowder can pick his landing spot, though, the Miami Heat may be his eventual destination. He reportedly wants to return to the team that employed him in 2020.

"Heat officials have even expressed confidence Miami is Crowder's preferred destination," Yahoo Sports' Jake Fischer wrote. "By all accounts, Crowder didn't want to leave Miami after he contributed to the Heat's 2020 Eastern Conference championship."

According to Lowe, Miami has mutual interest in the 2012 second-round pick. However, the Heat shouldn't move too quickly on swinging a trade, for a couple of reasons.

For starters, as Lowe noted, making a trade early in the season won't be easy. Because the Suns are over the luxury tax threshold, any team trading for Crowder must salary match—up to 125 percent under NBA trade guidelines.

If Phoenix takes on the 125 percent, a team must trade $8.2 million in salary to match Crowder's $10.2 million salary.

As Lowe noted, Miami will struggle to do that until Caleb Martin, Victor Oladipo and Dewayne Dedmon become trade-eligible later this season. Miami shouldn't scramble to put a trade package together before then, even if it fears another team will scoop up Crowder.

Crowder is a fine role player—he plays solid defense and averaged 9.4 points while shooting 34.8 percent from beyond the arc last season—but he isn't an All-Star and would likely fill a rotational role in Miami.

It's worth noting that Crowder is also on an expiring contract. Trading for him would either result in a one-year rental or force Miami into similar contract negotiations to the ones that led to the player's desire to leave Phoenix.

Miami has a tremendous core group—it did claim the No. 1 seed in the East last season—and parting with a key contributor to add a good-but-not-great role player wouldn't make a ton of sense. With that in mind, dealing a player like Oladipo or Martin might not make sense, either.

And the Suns do want a valuable player in return.

"Phoenix has informed inquiring teams it wishes to move Crowder only for a player or combination of players who can help win now," Fischer wrote.

The Heat should take some time to evaluate the roster before swinging any sort of significant trade. If Miami is willing to wait, it might not have to trade for Crowder at all.

According to Fischer, one player the Suns are targeting is Utah Jazz point guard Jordan Clarkson. The belief is that Crowder would then be able to secure a buyout from the Jazz.

"That outcome would seem to result in Crowder securing a buyout from Utah, and then his pick of destination, albeit at an unknown salary," Fischer wrote.

If Crowder can pick his next destination, it seems like a safe bet that he would choose Miami. Why rush to trade for a player the Heat could sign outright? They shouldn't. The trade deadline isn't until February 9, and Miami has plenty of reasons to exercise patience with his situation.

Heat general manager Andy Elisburg seems content to take that patient approach. He shouldn't be incentivized to change it just because other potential contenders in the conference may move on a trade first.