NBA Rumors: Jae Crowder Trade to Be Explored by Nets After Kevin Durant, Suns Deal

The Brooklyn Nets are "expected to explore" a trade involving Jae Crowder in the final hours prior to Thursday's 3 p.m. ET deadline, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Wojnarowski reported Brooklyn is optimistic a contending team will want Crowder, who will join the Nets from the Phoenix Suns as part of a trade package headlined by Kevin Durant

The Nets aren't bottoming out to the degree they did when the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce/Jason Kidd era blew up spectacularly. But they're clearly shifting to a long-term view with Durant's departure on top of Kyrie Irving's trade to the Dallas Mavericks.

That makes a vet on an expiring deal such as Crowder expendable.

The 6'6" forward has yet to play this season after requesting an exit from Phoenix in the fall. In January, NBA insider Marc Stein noted there could be questions over "how long it will take the 32-year-old to acclimatize to a team and the state of his conditioning more than halfway through the season."

But Crowder still figures to have a trade market. He's a career 34.6 percent three-point shooter who can guard multiple positions, and he boasts plenty of playoff experience.

Having already set the stage for its next phase, Brooklyn may not be holding out for a specific trade return, either.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported in December that teams were finding it "challenging to do trade business with the Suns" and that Phoenix was struggling to find a straight-up trade it liked involving Crowder.

Negotiating a swap with the Nets should theoretically be easier, since they no longer need assets that help them push for a title right now.