Brooklyn Gets Apple of Its Eye: Allen Crabbe Is Finally A Net

In the Kenny Atkinson designed drive-and-kick offense that led the entire NBA in reliance on spot-up looks, Allen Crabbe could thrive and see a usage spike simply due to increased emphasis on his talents in Brooklyn. However, neither Lin nor Russell will draw quite the number of defenders Lillard and McCollum had in Portland and it will behoove Crabbe to do a bit more work in alleviating the creation responsibilities of the backcourt.

Crabbe should also get more opportunities to attack inside in Atkinson’s offense as the offense encourages attacking hard closeouts from all its players and moving the ball quickly to open teammates on the perimeter if a clear layup is not available. Crabbe has been a rather limited distributor for most of his career, both due to capability and Portland’s lack of necessity for such a skill from him, but that shouldn’t be confused as Crabbe is a selfish teammate. While likely to not generate many assist opportunities when attacking closeouts, Crabbe should be fine keeping the ball movement flowing to the more dynamic creators and also be able to take advantage of open lanes to the rim as a career 68.9% finisher at the hoop.