Brooklyn Nets: Taurean Prince real steal of Allen Crabbe trade

Brooklyn Nets GM Sean Marks pulled off yet another impressive move, acquiring a useful piece in Taurean Prince while dumping Allen Crabbe’s salary.

By trading Allen Crabbe, the 17th pick in the 2019 draft and a lottery-protected 2020 first rounder to the Atlanta Hawks for Taurean Prince and a 2021 second-round pick, the Brooklyn Nets have shown the rest of the NBA that they mean business this offseason.

After years mired in the NBA purgatory, where the Nets consistently found themselves at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and were without any first-round draft picks, Brooklyn is now firmly in contention for some of the marquee free agents available this summer.

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Sean Marks has had an incredible run over his tenure as general manager of the Nets, but, perhaps, his one big mistake was the acquisition of Crabbe and his massive contract from the Portland Trail Blazers.

While he was touted as an elite shooter, over the course of his two seasons in Brooklyn, the former Cal standout averaged just 11.9 points while shooting under 40 percent from the field.

His poor shooting coupled with his below-average defense meant Crabbe came nowhere near justifying his $18.5 million salary. Getting him off the books was absolutely necessary if the Nets were to turn into title contenders.

They now have the space to create two max slots to potentially pair Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant while keeping the promising young core of Caris LeVert, Spencer Dinwiddie and Jarrett Allen.

And, for the first time since Dwight Howard back in 2012, there may be stars who would want to come and play for the Nets.

Brooklyn is clearing $18M in additional salary cap space for July, which gives the Nets $46M in salary cap space to sign a max free agent and even retain restricted free agent D'Angelo Russell. Without Russell, the Nets have two max salary slots. https://t.co/diOiBOkhOZ
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 6, 2019

Shedding Crabbe’s massive salary was always going to require at least one first rounder, and so while losing two is a tough pill to swallow for the Nets fans, the inclusion of Taurean Prince in the deal should ease the pain.

Prince checks all the boxes for Brooklyn as a gritty defender and rebounder who is more than capable of stretching the floor.

He reminds me a lot of a younger DeMarre Carroll, it’s not just the dreadlocks, and Prince may very well take Carroll’s spot in the Nets rotation next season. At 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds, Prince is the ideal size for a modern combo forward.

According to Basketball-Reference, Prince spent 86 percent of his time at the small forward position in 2017-18 when he started and played all 82 games, but that number dropped to 69 percent during his injury-plagued 2018-19 campaign.

I expect to see that number drop further as Prince will see a lot more time as a stretch 4 in Kenny Atkinson’s system.

After emerging as a starter during the 2017-18 campaign, Prince has averaged 13.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists for the Hawks while shooting 43.1 percent and shouldering much of the offensive load for a poor Atlanta team.

He shot the triple at a 38.7 percent clip on 5.5 attempts a game during the past two years and the fact that he was able to maintain an above average shooting percentage at such a high volume is a good sign for the Nets, given that he will have to create a lot less playing alongside whichever All-Star guard the Nets end up starting the year with.

His shooting percentage should only increase in Brooklyn. As a result of his time as the offensive focus in Atlanta two seasons ago, Prince has developed a nice arsenal of moves and is more than capable of creating off the dribble.

Like Carroll in his younger days, Prince runs the floor superbly for a forward and can be a real weapon for the Nets’ guards on a fast break. He does well above the rim and is certainly a capable finisher at the rim.

Defensively, Prince will add some toughness and versatility to the Nets’ frontcourt. Brooklyn’s lack of perimeter defenders was made abundantly clear in the playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers where Ben Simmons and Co. were able to use their size to dominate the Nets.

Adding Prince will give the Nets another defender capable of switching onto guards in pick and rolls, something the Nets will need to do come playoff time.

The former Baylor standout comes to the Nets having started 129 games over the last two seasons, and while he may not be a starter in Brooklyn, Prince can be a valuable role player next season for the Nets – and he’s still on his rookie deal.

He might not have fit the Hawks’ time line given their extremely young core, but Prince fits right in line with the Nets core at 25 and could be an important part of the Nets’ future.

Sean Marks has sent shock waves through the league with the trade, and the Nets are now set up for a huge free agency period that could completely alter the outlook of the franchise.

In Prince, he has acquired yet another valuable player on a cheap deal, while maintaining flexibility for the summer. This deal certainly made the Nets big winners on Thursday.