Is Allen Crabbe, the Brooklyn Nets‘ highest-paid player, ready to be a starter? Or does he still need time to learn the Nets system?
Brooklyn finally got the sharpshooting guard they’ve coveted in Allen Crabbe, but he’s an expensive one. Due $56.8 million over the next three years, Crabbe arrives in Brooklyn with high expectations attached to that salary.
Due to an ankle injury, Crabbe only has practiced and played with his teammates a handful of times in the preseason. He averaged 12.0 points per game in the two preseason games he did play in. While he was one of the team’s most impressive scorers, can he really be prepared for the start of the regular season which is right around the corner?
“I probably didn’t start playing with the guys until September,” Crabbe told Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “It was just rehab for me. A lot of rehabbing, a lot of individual workouts on the court and in the weight room,” Crabbe said. “That was pretty much my summer. They weren’t trying to rush anything. They were making sure everything was 100 percent.”
Should he start in the season opener against the Pacers? The answer is no.
Crabbe should come off the bench behind Jeremy Lin for the opener. If he’s playing well and looks like he’s picked up the offense and built some chemistry with his teammates, head coach Kenny Atkinson can stick him in the starting lineup for the second game of the season.
The season opener against Indiana will give Atkinson a clearer understanding of where Crabbe is, both in his rehab process and learning process with a new team.