2. Allen Crabbe, SG/SF, Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers were a surprise playoff team this season and that was largely attributed to their starting backcourt. Damian Lillard is a superstar and with C.J. McCollum winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award Allen Crabbe‘s play went unnoticed.
Crabbe distinguished himself as a legitimate 3-and-D wing, amplifying his value in a contract season, and the Trail Blazers will likely match any offer that the restricted free agent receives.
Despite his low usage percentage (16.4%), Crabbe was third in scoring (10.3) and fourth in minutes (26.0) after being a little used bench player in his first two seasons. The most staggering improvement though was in his shooting.
Crabbe put all of his skills on display in this Dec. game against the Indiana Pacers knocking down a number of jumpers off the catch and pulling up off the dribble to make others.
The 6-foot-6 shooting guard hovered around the league average of 35% on threes in 2014-15, but finished in the top 30 from downtown this season, converting at a 39.3% clip.
Per NBA.com, 48.2% of Crabbe’s field goal attempts this season were catch and shoots and he converted on 41.9% of those from three-point range. Unlike some three-point snipers, Crabbe didn’t have a problem putting the ball on the floor and taking a mid-range jumper.
He converted on 44.8% of his mid-range shots and shot 41.4% on pull-ups, a detriment to many pure shooters.
