Brooklyn Nets: Allen Crabbe traded to Atlanta in salary dump
The Brooklyn Nets have taken a major step in their quest to attract top tier free agents this offseason by dealing highly priced Allen Crabbe and picks.
The offseason has yet to officially get started and already the Brooklyn Nets are setting the tone for free agency. Brooklyn dealt guard Allen Crabbe along with the No. 17 pick in this months draft and lottery protected 2020 first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks for Taurean Prince and their 2021 second-round pick.
The deal is interesting in the sense that Brooklyn was already in a good position to attract a max free agent but now with Crabbe’s money off the books options have widened tremendously. The Nets are in a win now mode instead of building for a better future after last season’s surprise run to the playoffs. The team was good but at times seemed like they were a superstar or two away from being an Eastern Conference contender.
Crabbe struggled last season with the Brooklyn Nets, only appearing in 43 games and averaging 9.6 points per contest. Injuries combined with the emergence of younger talent on the roster took the veteran shooter out of the rotation. After opting into the last year of his contract, Crabbe is due to make $18.5 million this upcoming season.
There are big-name players available this offseason that range from Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant to possibly Klay Thompson or Kemba Walker. The Nets brass led by general manager Sean Marks has been open about his recruiting hopes this summer during the end of season press conference back in April.
"“The process we went through this year — and there’s a lot of positives that’ve come out of this year — can only help, It’s going to attract free agents. People are going to want to play here. They’re going to want to play for Kenny, they’re going to want to play in Brooklyn, they’re going to play for this ownership group. We have a lot of things going for us.”"
The situation regarding D’Angelo Russell has also become interesting as the Brooklyn Nets can openly entertain the possibility of moving on to Kyrie Irving instead. Irving has kept the Nets as an option on his wish list of teams. The attention may increase now that the team will have even more money to spend after this latest trade with the Hawks.
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The idea of adding Durant while he is openly being pursued by the New York Knicks is a bold shot by the franchise consistently viewed in its history as the areas number two team. Brooklyn’s next move in regards to keeping or renouncing D’Angelo Russell will be critical to the teams super max duo this summer.