A year after presenting a massive offersheet to Allen Crabbe, the Brooklyn Nets will finally get their guy.
Sort of.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Tuesday that the Portland Trailblazers had agreed to trade once coveted Crabbe to Brooklyn in exchange for Andrew Nicholson.
The trade comes in the midst of a summer offseason that saw last year’s money dry and cap space disappear into the ether.
Crabbe and Nicholson both represent team’s buyer’s remorse as the infamous 2016 summer spending spree looks more and more like a major misstep in organizational planning.
Crabbe’s four-year, $75 million deal signed last summer has been lauded as one of the league’s worst and most untradable contracts.
Inking Crabbe to the long-term deal ballooned Portland’s salary straight into the luxury tax with little to show for it.
Nicholson is also a casualty of last year’s crazy summer. The mostly unknown forward signed a 4-year, $26 million deal with the Washington Wizards that was ridiculed by many sports writers and front office experts.
Washington, to their credit, managed to flip Nicholson (and a first round pick) to Brooklyn for Bojan Bogdanović. The Nets, who were once devoid of assets and picks, have been more than willing to eat up salary and facilitate moves in exchange for prospects or late first rounders.
Nicholson is owed nearly $20 million during the remainder of his contract, according to Spotrac.
Woj is reporting that the Trailblazers plan to use the stretch provision on Nicholson, which will give Portland some immediate wiggle room in exchange for smaller cap penalties for the foreseeable future (see: Smith, Josh and Sanders, Larry).
For Brooklyn, acquiring Crabbe is a success 12 months in the making. For all the criticism hurled his way, he is still a decent prospect.
Crabbe is just 25, plays on of the league’s most important positions, and was lethal from beyond the arc — shooting 44 percent from three.
Add the detail that Crabbe is forfeiting his trade kicker and the trade looks even better.
The Sean Marks era in Brooklyn is proving to be a very promising one as the team continues to acquire draft compensation and young players from cash-strapped teams throughout the league.
As for Portland, it’s unclear what they will do with the newfound cap room. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum have publicly clamored for Carmelo Anthony to come west, but that seems unlikely.
Regardless, it seems Portland has something up their sleeves in the near future.
I would be genuinely surprised if trading Crabbe was just a luxury tax saving move. If anyone can afford to pay a little extra in salary penalties, it’s the guy that owns this.