Allen Crabbe, four years, $75 million, Portland Trail Blazers
Crabbe represents the other end of Portland’s disastrous duo of contracts given out last summer. A more efficient scorer than Turner, Crabbe can shoot. But no team should be paying $75 million for a bench scorer. Sure, Crabbe is scoring 13.5 points per 36 on 44.4 percent shooting from three, but that’s about it.
Crabbe is averaging only 1.5 assists per 36, shoots just 43.9 percent on drives to the basket, is a non-factor in the pick-and-roll and a terrible defender. The Blazers are 2.5 points per 100 possession worse with Crabbe on the floor, and his -2.54 real plus-minus — 76th among shooting guards — is almost entirely the result of a defensive RPM that ranks 95th at the position.
As with Turner, the Blazers knew what they were getting when they offered this deal — Crabbe has played his entire career in Portland — which serves to make it all the more baffling. On a list of bad contracts, Crabbe’s may qualify as the best solely because he turned 25 last week and will most likely improve on the defensive end. However, that doesn’t mean he’ll ever be worth $75 million.
The Blazers can’t go after a superstar this summer, in large part because of Turner and Crabbe’s contracts. Right now, their projected salaries are at $140 million, well over the projected salary cap of $102 million and into the luxury tax. In handing out money to mediocre players, the Blazers have strapped themselves to mediocrity for the near future.