Why?
That's a terrible contract. One of the league's worst.
It was his doing aswell. I'm glad he's prepared to sleep in the bed he made I guess.
Allen Crabbe didnt have his best year, but he's got talent, I was really keen for the Bulls to go after him last season, and even this off season ina salary dump. Portland signing him to that deal, albeit forced into it, and inking Evan turner when they had Harkless on the books as well was beyond dumb
The salary cap is 99.093, and Crabbe puts Brooklyn at 94.732. They have Carroll and Lin off the books next year as well.
Getting a talented player for nothing is a win, especially given they have no incentive to tank. You could argue they should have pushed for a pick in there as well, but maybe Portland weren't willing to budge.. .who knows. He's a capable defender, he gets a decent number of steals and can finish the break, and has shown decent flashes defensively, most of his issues are losing switches, not pushing through screens, all really fixable stuff. I'll back Atkinson to bring the best out of him, and Brooklyn really can use shooting for opening up lanes for DAR.
They have the Toronto pick, plus added Russell to develop and have a couple of seconds coming in next year, plus own their firsts after that. Its looking far better than it was.
Obvious the positions are reasonably fluid, and they arent blessed in the big man department.
Russell/Lin/Dinwiddie
LeVert/Kilpatrick
Crabbe/RHJ/Carroll
Booker
Mozgov/Acy
Thats a fairly good 1-4 rotation (assuming Carroll/RHJ play some there) by Brooklyn standards.
Cleveland, Boston, Toronto, Washington, Hornets and Bucks are probably the top 6.
Miami, Detroit around the mark for 7 and 8.
Philly looking to improve into playoff contention (a year away in all honesty)
Orlando, Knicks, Pacers, Bulls, Hawks are all noticeably worse.
I'm not saying they'll be a playoff team, but they've won 20 and 21 the last 2 seasons. Heck Anthony Bennett even started a game for them last season. They got 36 games from a hobbled kender in Lin.
Its not the best contract... but (one of) leagues worst? He at least shows upside. Meanwhile Deng 72 million, Plumlee 50, Mahinmi 64, Noah 72, Mozzy 64... all far worse by my estimation. And for a team that was well under the cap and isn't a marquee destination for free agents.... well hell you'll be overpaying anyway.