Brooklyn Nets: Player grades from disastrous finish(es) against Grizzlies

Quietly, Allen Crabbe didn’t have a bad night for the Brooklyn Nets on Friday.

He knocked down 3-of-6 from long range, moved the ball better offensively than he has lately, did some work on the boards and handled starting at the 3 against the much larger Kyle Anderson about as well as could be expected.

Crabbe is a dilemma for the Nets because he’s not producing as well as he did last season — not even close, even in the throes of his slump last year — and that is combined with the fact he is Brooklyn’s highest-paid player with a player option for next season.

So you’re sort of forced to play him. But as Brooklyn fades from contention for a lower-tier playoff spot — the Nets now trail the eighth-place Orlando Magic by three games — at some point, a decision has to be made to start playing the kids.

Dzanan Musa is getting G League minutes, which is good for his development. But if the Nets continue to sink in the standings, it would be good for Musa — and Brooklyn — to start getting some minutes at the NBA level. Right now, those minutes are going to Crabbe.

Veteran savvy with a side of inexplicable decisions. That’s been Jared Dudley‘s M.O. this season, with the latter evidenced by taking a needless foul with 1.8 second remaining in a four-point game.

At what point does a stretch 4 become just a too-small guy playing at the power forward spot while offering almost no rebounding and zero offense?

Dudley is now shooting 36.6 percent overall and 29.9 percent from 3-point range and it feels like his last make from deep was a very long time ago.

It wasn’t — he made one against the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday — but that’s his only make in 10 attempts over the last six games.

Are we nearing the point where Dudley is just stealing minutes from rookie Rodions Kurucs? If not, when do we get there?

Ed Davis was again very solid for the Brooklyn Nets with his touch around the rim and his rebounding.

While the idea runs counter to small-ball pace-and-space philosophy, I can’t help but be intrigued by the idea of Davis at the 5 and Jarrett Allen as a big 4.

If Allen could get more consistency on his jump shot, that could be something the Nets could consider as a counter to teams like Memphis, which goes 7-foot-1, 6-foot-11 and 6-foot-9 across its starting frontcourt.

Davis against Marc Gasol with Allen on Jaren Jackson Jr. sounds like a better alternative than running a bunch of 6-foot-7 guys at Jackson.