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Brooklyn Nets trade Andrew Nicholson to Portland for Allen Crabbe

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Allen Crabbe -- Restricted Free Agent The skinny: Crabbe was a little-used backup in Portland in his first two seasons before breaking out as a top bench option for the Trail Blazers this season. Despite backing up C.J. McCollum and Al-Farouq Aminu, Crabbe ranked third on the Trail Blazers in points per game (10.3), fourth in steals per game (0.9), and hit 2.5 three-pointers per game at an excellent 39.3 percent clip. Crabbe a fit? Yes. Crabbe can score from outside, is young (he turned 24 in April), and proved he can be an effective weapon on a playoff team. The Nets are also limited by the "poison pill" rule (aka the Gilbert Arenas rule), a provision that limits how much a team can offer another team's second-round pick in restricted free agency in the first year. That also could backfire on the Nets if they backload a huge offer, hamstringing them in future free agency periods. Worthy pursuit? Sure, as the Nets could use more shooters. But there's a good chance any deal will be matched by the Trail Blazers. What makes it unlikely isn't that he's not good, but that he is.
Batum is a smart, willing passer who often put Marvin Williams and Cody Zeller in positions to score, and is a confident in-control player with three-point range and defensive skills. He was one of just five players to average at least 14 points, six rebounds, and five assists per game — the other four being LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden.

The Brooklyn Nets have traded forward Andrew Nicholson to the Portland Trail Blazers for guard Allen Crabbe, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Tuesday. 

The trade comes one year after the Nets originally tendered an offer sheet to Crabbe. The deal was a four-year, $75 million offer sheet that Crabbe signed prior to it being matched by Portland.

Now, Crabbe has ended up in Brooklyn after all, with the Nets taking on the contract dump from Portland. As for Nicholson, the Trail Blazers plan to waive and stretch his contract.

Crabbe will cost the Nets roughly $18 million next season, and he’s signed through the 2018-19 season, including a player option in 2020. With Nicholson’s $6 million contract off the books, Crabbe’s contract does not take as hard of a hit on Brooklyn. 

Additionally, Crabbe waived his trade kicker that would have paid him $5.6 million over the next two years, Wojnarowski reports. 

During the 2016-17 season, Crabbe averaged 10.7 points per game on 46.8 percent shooting from the field. He also averaged 44.4 percent shooting from three over 79 games played. 

Crabbe now has the chance to be a starter and flourish in Brooklyn’s backcourt of Jeremy Lin and D’Angelo Russell. 

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