Editor’s Note: All opinions expressed by Alex Labidou are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Brooklyn Nets or the team’s Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors
The second mailbag is here and there’s plenty of topics to touch on, so without further delay, here it is:
Among rookies (qualified stats), he’s first in blocks (1.2), first in field goal percentage (58.9) and seventh in rebounding (5.4). He’s also fourth in ESPN’s rookie Player Efficiency Rating (17.56), following behind ROTY favorite Ben Simmons, John Collins and Jordan Bell. As a starter, he averaged 10.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks while shooting 62.1 percent from the floor.
In my opinion, Allen’s overall season averages might not draw the attention of a national media voter group, but coaches, players and media who got to see him up close all rave about how much he’s already shown. If it were up to me, Allen and De'Aaron Fox would have replaced two players on All-Rookie second team. I’m not naming names though.
Every NBA team explores options to move up or collect more assets in the draft. Looking at Sean Marks’ previous two drafts, he’s shown a willingness to make significant trades during the draft (D’Angelo Russell’s arrival for example) or find ways to acquire first and second round picks.
Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen were all first rounders that joined the Nets via trade. There is a case to be made that all of those players have proven that they should have been picked higher than where they were selected. So the possibility of moving up definitely can’t be ruled out in the 2018 draft.
That’s a good question. My BrooklynNets.com colleague Tom Dowd wrote a great feature about the Year 2 effect in Brooklyn that’s already taken shape with Joe Harris, Spencer Dinwiddie, Caris LeVert and even Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (who was under his second year with Kenny Atkinson last season).
While I don’t want to sound like a PR campaign and predict a massive jump for Allen Crabbe next season, he showed some positive signs in the second half of the season.
After the All-Star break, Crabbe averaged 15.1 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 41.4 percent from downtown. The 25-year-old was torching it up in April as he put up 21.2 points a night in that month – shooting 54.8 percent overall and 50 percent from behind the arc. Crabbe admitted in an interview with BrooklynNets.com in March that at times he had to adjust to a different playing style and new surroundings. He expects bigger things for next season.
“I didn’t have the consistent season I wanted to have,” Crabbe told BrooklynNets.com. “But I got one year under my belt [in Brooklyn] and I know where I can be effective on this team and what I can bring – what I can do. Just go into offseason and come back a completely different player.”
Bonus Questions:
It’s a goddarn hot dog! We had a lengthy debate about this at the BSE office last week btw! Over 35 people voted and based on the majority of the poll, it is not a sandwich!
I assume you’re referring to the players. There’s obviously a lot of offseason conditioning going on, but what’s really impressed me is the player-led team building that’s been going on. Seeing almost the entire team participate in a gathering in Los Angeles is something that you rarely see from NBA teams and it speaks volumes about how tight the locker room is.