Allen Crabbe (SG/SF, BKN) - Week 20 Waiver Wire Pickups

February 24, 2019

Allen Crabbe is a worthy consideration as a fantasy basketball waiver wire pickup if he's still available as a free agent in your league, heading into Week 20 of the NBA season. Brady Grove recommends Crab for his accuracy in high-volume shooting from deep and his recent scoring propensity.

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ANALYSIS: Allen Crabbe reached a peak last season in terms of role-prominence for his six-year NBA career with the Portland Trailblazers and Brooklyn Nets, averaging 13.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game (all career-high figures) in 29.3 minutes per contest while also converting on 2.7 shots from beyond the arc out of 7.1 attempts per game for a 37.8 success rate through 75 games with Brooklyn (played in 68 games as a member of the starting lineup. This season, Brooklyn has experienced a surprising amount of team success behind the collective efforts of emerging young stars such as Caris Levert, D'Angelo Russell, Rodions Kurucs, Jarrett Allen, Spencer Dinwiddie, Shabazz Napier, and Three-Point Contest Champion Joe Harris.

This has naturally led to a reduction in PT and therefore, role prominence for the former California Bear, as he has been averaging 10.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 26.1 minutes per contest. While his role has been scaled back, he has been shooting at a more accurate clip from downtown, as he has been draining 2.5 three-pointers out of 6.2 nightly attempts for a 40.4% conversion rate in 33 games (15 as a member of the starting five) with the 31-30 (Six-Seed) Nets. Crabbe has played especially astute since Brooklyn's February 8th showdown with the Chicago Bulls. In that four-game span he has put up 72 total points (18.0 per game) and 13 rebounds (3.25 per game) while going 16 for 33 from three-point land for a deadly-accurate conversion rate of 48.5%. The Brooklyn Nets are a surprise team of the Eastern Conference, and they are making a real push for the postseason, if not for the highest rated seed that they can possibly achieve. Allen Crabbe will have to be an active scorer and threat from long range for that plan to come to fruition so, given his play of late, this makes him an asset of considerable value in standard leagues for the rest of the 2018-2019 campaign.