West Notes: Suns, Jae Crowder, Kings, Clippers

Suns

Veteran forward Jae Crowder was informed over the summer that he might not start, prompting his trade request from the Suns, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

Crowder is sitting out training camp while the Suns seek a deal. 

“Jae brought a number of intangibles to the team, I think all of our guys would speak in that way about him,” Suns coach Monty Williams said, via Windhorst. “At the same time, these things happen and you have to transition and move forward. I totally am behind (GM) James Jones and how we are handling this.”

The Heat, Mavericks, Celtics and Grizzlies are four teams to watch in the Crowder sweepstakes, per Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Kings

GM Monte McNair expressed confidence in the Kings’ roster makeover, including new coach Mike Brown.

“Look, for me and my group, we’re excited about what we’ve done. We’re excited that coach Brown is in here,” McNair said, via Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. “I’m the GM right now and I’ve got a bunch of work to do, so I’m going to do that until they kick me out, and I hope I’m here for a long time.”

McNair did not address the fact he’s in the final season of a three-year contract, beyond asking, “Is my contract, like, on the Internet or something?”

• Newcomer Matthew Dellavedova said he’s been impressed with De’Aaron Fox‘s overall strength. “He’s a lot stronger than I realized,” Dellavedova said, via Anderson. “He’s lean and obviously everyone knows how fast he is, but he’s really strong. He’s got a very solid base and … I didn’t know he was that strong.”

Clippers

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue expressed excitement over the addition of John Wall, who will be joining the likes of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

“I think with John, adding John, his pace is tremendous. That’s going to allow us to get easy baskets,” Lue said, via Helene Elliott of the LA Times. “Guys get open threes, easy shots, him getting downhill, getting to the basket changes our team dramatically. His pace, the way he plays, brings a different dimension to our team.”