West Notes: Suns, Jae Crowder, Warriors, Steph Curry, Clippers

Suns

• The Suns continue to seek out a trade centered on forward Jae Crowder but are clearly not in a rush. Sources told Hoops Wire they will wait until the February trade deadline if that’s what it comes to.
• Along with the Bucks, the Heat, Warriors and Knicks are among those linked to Crowder. Of all of them, Milwaukee seemingly would like to acquire him most, but are hardly willing to move any important pieces.
• As we relayed here, the Bucks, Suns and Rockets recently discussed a three-team trade that would finally move Crowder to a new location.
• Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic has five takeaways from the Suns’ win over the Clippers, which snapped a five-game skid.

Warriors

Star guard Steph Curry said he’s thankful that surgery isn’t required for the shoulder injury that is expected to sideline him for several weeks.

“Trust the process, no pun intended on where we are,” Curry said, via Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area.

When asked if he was relieved that he doesn’t need surgery, Curry indicated there’s no doubt about that.

“Oh, 100 percent,” he said, via Johnson. “That changed the whole dynamic of the conversation, personally and as a team.

“Just trying to stay positive and understand I’ll be back sooner than later, hopefully. And hopefully, I won’t miss a beat in terms of the rest of my body and my game with how I’ve been playing.” 

Clippers

• The injury-prone Clippers can’t seem to gain any momentum, making them at times difficult to watch, wrote Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times.
• The Clippers are 7-2 in games that Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have played together, but under .500 (10-12) in the rest. “It’s not something where we’re actually just resting guys,” coach Tyronn Lue said, via Hernandez. “Like, guys are banged up.”