Allen Crabbe’s impressive Nets debut shows why Brooklyn offered him so much money

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Five-and-a-half minutes into the Nets’ 117-83 win over the New York Knicks on Sunday, Allen Crabbe made his debut in Brooklyn black and white. It was almost 15 months after the start date he and Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson envisioned, but the ex-Trail Blazer played as if he’d been waiting for this moment for a lifetime.

Crabbe scored 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting against the Knicks, but 11 of those 14 came off the bench in the first quarter. He probably would have gone for gold if he wasn’t on a minutes restriction after recovering from a sprained ankle.

Crabbe’s performance was a reminder that Brooklyn — a team that jacked up the third-most three-pointers at one of the league’s worst percentages last season — successfully addressed one of its glaring needs on the wing this summer. It was also a note that in Atkinson’s pace-and-space system, the 25-year-old wing may be exactly what Brooklyn needs to jumpstart its offense.

“Just watching the first two preseason games, watching all the shots and watching how the offense flows, it’s a perfect system,” Crabbe said after the game. “It’s a different feel here. When the coaches are telling you to do more, to shoot more. It’s like the ultimate green light. So I’m out there just playing basketball freely.”

Added Atkinson: “We often talk about system fit. So we targeted Allen and said this is a guy who would fit in our system. Tonight is a good start. It was exactly kind of what we thought. Hopefully he can continue that as he gets healthier into the regular season.”

It wasn’t that long ago Crabbe’s Nets career was put on hold

Crabbe entered restricted free agency last summer as a coveted two-way wing who averaged 10 points on 39 percent three-point shooting with Portland in the 2015-16 season. Atkinson and Nets GM Sean Marks identified him as a perfect fit for their system and culture, so they lobbed a massive four-year, $75 million offer sheet his way.

He signed it, and the Trail Blazers matched the offer, which was front-loaded and included a 15 percent trade kicker.

Crabbe spent one more season in Portland and morphed into the second-most efficient three-point shooter behind Kyle Korver, averaging 10.7 points on 44.4 percent shooting from downtown.

But despite his relative success last year, Portland had $110 million in guaranteed contracts with young star Jusuf Nurkic’s contract extension nearing next summer. So instead of eating a hefty luxury tax bill, the Trail Blazers dealt Crabbe to the Nets for Andrew Nicholson, whose contract they waived shortly after.

Prior to tipoff, Atkinson said he was excited to see Crabbe suit up because he is a low-usage, high-efficiency player, who competes on defense and doesn’t need the ball to be effective.

In case you didn’t know, those are the best types of players to have on your team.

But the Trail Blazers may not have thought so, and if they did, they weren’t willing to bite the financial bullet needed to keep him around. Brooklyn was — they offered him the deal in the first place — and now Crabbe says it’s his time to shine.

“It’s a different outlook that they have on me here,” he said. “They want me to do more; it’s a bigger role here. So I’m for the challenge. This is what I’ve been waiting for, so I’m gonna make things happen.”

Yes, it’s only the preseason. And yes, anything done against the Knicks defense should be taken with 1/100 of a grain of salt. But Crabbe’s hot shooting and active hands made the Barclays Center erupt in the first quarter.

That’s a tall order for a Brooklyn crowd known to cheer Nets opponents more often than not.

After all, this is the guy Atkinson and Marks targeted almost 15 months ago. Crabbe wasn’t fazed at all by his performance Sunday night. Was Brooklyn’s head coach?

“It’s what I expected,” Atkinson said. “He’s a really good all-around basketball player.”