Tolliver, Crabbe to be bought out; should Celtics inquire?

Two more names enter the pool of players hoping to latch on to a contender by tomorrow afternoon – Allen Crabbe and Anthony Tolliver. Should Boston make a call?

There’s always a few surprises entering the buyout market each season, and the Boston Celtics find themselves with a few relatively unexpected names to consider as a result.

Neither, it should be stressed, is going to swing a series with their play, but both could in theory help Boston’s bench — one of the worst in the NBA when it comes to generating offense.

Those two players would be shooting guard Allen Crabbe (formerly with the Minnesota Timberwolves) and forward Anthony Tolliver (in the process of being bought out by the Sacramento Kings).

While both are admittedly marginal upgrades on the end of Boston’s bench, they still might be worth a look given wing Javonte Green has played precisely zero minutes since Feb. 7, and scored just 1 point since Jan. 6.

Tolliver, a journeyman’s journeyman, hasn’t been shooting the ball very well recently, but his situation may be a major part of the reason why.

Age may be a part of that as well at 34 years old, but his 3-point percentage dropped from 33.7 % with the Portland Trail Blazers to 17.6 % with the Kings after being dealt there midseason.

A career 37.3 % shooter from beyond the arc, Tolliver is probably closer to his Blazers numbers than what we’ve seen of late. The Creighton product doesn’t bring too much else to the table at this stage of his career, but could still be of interest if just for his shooting.

Crabbe, on the other hand, is an intriguing option even as bad as he’s been this season. Like Tolliver, he’s been a solid shooter for most of his career whose numbers fell off drastically after being traded to rebuilding teams.

Unlike Tolliver, he’s still relatively young at 27, and scoring more on bad teams (a combined average of 4.6 points per game between his time with the Atlanta Hawks and Wolves this season) than the former Kings forward was when he was with Portland (3.9 points per game).

When Crabbe was with the Brooklyn Nets last season, he wasn’t earning the $18.5 million payday doled out by an over-enthusiastic Blazers front office in the heady days of 2016, but he was a decent player.

Crabbe scored 9.6 points per game and pulled down 3.4 boards per contest while shooting a very respectable 37.8 % from deep.

While he’s always been a terrible defender, he’d be playing alongside defensive-minded players like Marcus Smart, Grant Williams, Romeo Langford, Robert Williams III and Semi Ojeleye, of which only Smart is any kind of consistent offensive threat.

While the market has improved considerably to secure a buyout that would make sense for the Celtics even from the morning of the day before the March 1 buyout deadline, chances are still good team president Danny Ainge and company does nothing at the deadline.

But if they do make a move, Tolliver could be helpful, and Crabbe even more so. If nothing else, it won’t hurt to have them in for an interview.

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