Jae Crowder trade grades: How the Bucks made out in acquiring the ...

The Athletic is covering the NBA trade deadline live.

If you bought a Jae Crowder Brooklyn Nets jersey from the NBA Store early Thursday, you still have time to cancel the order.

Crowder is headed to the Milwaukee Bucks in a deal that will bring back multiple second-round picks, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. It’s a three-team deal that includes Serge Ibaka, George Hill, Jordan Nwora and draft compensation heading to Indiana.

The Milwaukee Bucks are acquiring Jae Crowder in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets for five second-round picks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 9, 2023

Indiana is acquiring Bucks' Jordan Nwora and two second-rounders in this Nets/Bucks three-way deal, sources said.

Milwaukee acquires its defending, culture piece in Crowder for the stretch run. Crowder's last three NBA seasons: Two NBA Finals runs and a 64-win season. https://t.co/J0PHPCcygW

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 9, 2023

The Bucks are sending Serge Ibaka to the Pacers as part of Jae Crowder deal with Nets, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 9, 2023

Charania is also reporting the Pacers will waive Goga Bitadze, their 2019 first-round pick. ESPN first reported Hill to the Pacers in this trade.

Crowder has been waiting for a trade away from Phoenix since before the season started, and he was flipped to Brooklyn in the Kevin Durant trade less than 24 hours ago. Now he’ll be redirected to Milwaukee to help the Bucks get back to a championship level. They will hope to get the rust off Crowder pretty quickly, as he’s not played yet this season.

Let’s get this trade graded!

Bucks acquire Jae Crowder

There will be some process of Crowder getting back into the flow of things. He hasn’t played in an NBA game since Game 7 against Dallas in the second round of the playoffs in mid-May. While he’s been training and staying in shape, he still has to work through the rigors of getting back up to NBA speed. But it’s a great pickup for the Bucks, even at the cost of five second-round picks, Nwora, Ibaka and Hill. Crowder isn’t a dead-eye 3-point shooter you might expect, but he’s unafraid to take big shots, and he’s a good enough shooter to justify a lot of the attempts.

Where he’ll really help is giving the Bucks yet another strong defender who can guard multiple positions. Crowder was great for Phoenix the last couple years and in Miami previously as a big part of elite defensive units. The Bucks are tied for the second-best defense in the NBA this season and have been getting healthier with Khris Middleton back in the mix. Being able to throw a lineup of Jrue Holiday, Crowder, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez on the floor together could be historically stifling.

This is a massive upgrade for a team that had some depth issues. Yes, it costs a lot of second-round picks, but none of those future selections are likely to be as quality for them as what Crowder could be.

Grade: A

Nets acquire two second-round picks

What’s your favorite moment of the Crowder era in Brooklyn? We quickly started realizing the Nets have no reason to tank with Houston owning their future drafts, but they also weren’t likely to keep Crowder after the Durant deal.

The Nets are getting the value play of just grabbing some second-round picks for a valuable role player. That seems to be the majority of the market right now with teams like Brooklyn, Utah, Houston and OKC owning a large number of the future first-round picks owed from other teams. This is about as well as the Nets could have hoped for in sending out Crowder right away. With Crowder as an expiring contract this summer, even playing him was unlikely to get him to re-sign in a place without championship possibilities.

We just have to wait and see how those picks get used.

Grade: B-

Pacers acquire Serge Ibaka, George Hill, Jordan Nwora, three second-round picks

It isn’t a trade deadline unless Hill is on the move. He’s headed back to Indiana along with Ibaka in this deal. Considering the guard depth of the Pacers, I’m not sure how Hill fits into this. Maybe he gets bought out and they just eat what’s left of his $4 million. Ibaka and the Bucks agreed to find him a better home and one with more opportunities. This can’t be what he was expecting but the Pacers are planning to waive him, according to Charania.

It’s interesting to see the Pacers waiving Bitadze just four years after selecting him with the 18th pick in the draft. They do have plenty of big man depth with Myles Turner, Daniel Theis, Jalen Smith and Isaiah Jackson. Not being able to find a place for Bitadze in a trade is a little confusing, but sometimes that’s how the cookie crumbles. He’s been out of the rotation most of the season.

As for Nwora, he’s a nice wing to try out in the rotation at some point if they decide to keep him around. He’s only 24 years old, and he’s becoming a pretty reliable outside shooter. He is limited offensively, and maybe he can defend at a high enough level within a good system, but he’s mostly a guy to push Aaron Nesmith for minutes. Nesmith is a shooter who hasn’t exactly shot well, but the Pacers continue to play him heavy rotation minutes. Maybe Nwora creates a little more competition for those minutes while also netting them a couple second-round picks.

Grade: C+

Zach Harper’s trade grades

(Photo of Jae Crowder and Khris Middleton: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)