7/25/17
The Blazers finally have some cap relief after trading 6th man Allen Crabbe to the Brooklyn Nets for Andrew Nicholson (per Adrian Wojnarowski). Portland has been paying Crabbe $18.5M per year to play for them. According to spotrac.com, Portland has the second worst salary cap situation, right behind the Cleveland Cavaliers. The difference is that Cleveland is a championship contending team while Portland is struggling to make the playoffs consistently. The Blazers pick up of Andrew Nicholson is interesting as Nicholson is notorious for being a lackluster defensive player and is known only for his offense. They will most likely keep Nicholson and his small contract over the next few seasons because their starting center, Jusuf Nurkic, will be expecting a big payday in this upcoming offseason as his rookie contract will expire.
For Brooklyn, their starting lineup looks like an all-star team compared to last year’s lineup. Their projected 2017-18 starting lineup: (PG) D’Angelo Russell, (SG) Allen Crabbe, (SF) DeMarre Carroll, (PF) Trevor Booker, (C) Timofey Mozgov. Since the east has lost so many great players this offseason, do not be surprised if the Nets slip into the playoffs next season.