The Portland Trail Blazers have cleared some room against the salary cap, reportedly trading high-priced guard Allen Crabbe to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for forward Andrew Nicholson.
Portland has traded Allen Crabbe to Brooklyn for Andrew Nicholson, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 25, 2017
This move is interesting in that is teams Crabbe back up with a Nets squad that signed him to an offer sheet when he was a restricted free agent last summer. Ultimately, that led to Portland having to match the four-year, $74.8 million deal Brooklyn threw his way.
Crabbe, 25, is set to make $19.3 million this upcoming season. He averaged just 10.7 points during the 2016-17 campaign, but did shoot at a 44 percent clip from three-point range.
By moving Crabbe and his expensive contract to Brooklyn, the Blazers have saved $12-plus million against this year’s salary cap. And that right there is the biggest story.
The Blazers themselves have been linked to New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony on the trade block. In fact, certain members of the team have campaigned for Anthony to head to the Pacific Northwest (more on that here).
Whether that comes to fruition remains to be seen, but is sure looks like this deal is a prelude for something larger down the road this summer. That’s only magnified by the fact that Portland will waive Nicholson after completion of the deal.
Portland will waive and stretch Nicholson's contract, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 25, 2017
As it relates to the Nets, they now have a high-upside young backcourt tandem in Crabbe and D’Angelo Russell. And in reality, they paid very little in terms of compensation in either trade. Not too shabby at all for the long downtrodden franchise.