According to reports, the Portland Trail Blazers have matched the offer sheet that restricted free agent guard/forward Allen Crabbe signed with the Brooklyn Nets. The Blazers will retain Crabbe on a contract that will pay him $75 million over four years.
Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical broke the news that the Blazers matched the offer on Sunday afternoon:
The Portland Trail Blazers have matched Allen Crabbe's four-year, $75M offer sheet with Brooklyn, league source tells @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 10, 2016
Portland Trail Blazers Match Offer Sheet for Allen Crabbe
Crabbe’s new contract will take him through the 2019-20 season. Crabbe’s deal includes a player option before the fourth year, which would allow Crabbe to opt out and become a free agent in 2019, if he thinks he can earn more money at that point. It also reportedly includes a trade kicker, which would make the deal cost more to any team that chooses to acquire Crabbe in a trade. These features of the contract make it less favorable for Crabbe’s team, which was the Nets intention when they signed the offer sheet; it was supposed to discourage the Trail Blazers from matching the offer. However, Blazers general manager Neil Olshey decided that Crabbe is worth the cost of this hefty new deal. The Blazers decided to match the offer despite already signing another wing player, Evan Turner, to a similar-sized contract earlier in free agency.
Crabbe averaged 10.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 26 minutes per game last season — all career highs for him. He’ll look to continue his solid play and keep improving his game in order to live up to this contract.
On Brooklyn’s side of things, the Nets will now have to wait on another restricted free agent who they signed to an offer sheet — Tyler Johnson. The Miami Heat will have until 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday to decide whether or not to match the offer and retain Johnson. The Nets’ relatively new GM, Sean Marks, has his work cut out for him if the Heat do indeed re-sign Johnson. Thus far in free agency, Brooklyn’s only major signing has been point guard Jeremy Lin. The Nets finished last season with a paltry record of 21-61.
Check out the LWOS 2016 NBA Free Agency Tracker for all of your NBA free agency coverage, and be sure to follow @LastWordHoops on Twitter to stay up-to-date with the latest NBA news.
