While the NBA world is still in shock following Kyrie Irving's recent trade request, there is a lot more happening around the league these days. Teams are making moves and roster changes, as they look to improve this summer before the season starts. The Portland Trail Blazers are also one of the teams that are looking for ways to stay relevant next season in the Western Conference. They had a solid 2016/2017 season as they made the playoffs narrowly with a 41-41 record. Unfortunately for them, they ran into Golden State in the first round and got swept easily by the Warriors.

The Trail Blazers know that they still have a long way to go before they narrow the gap between themselves and some of the best teams in the Western Conference. It was announced on Tuesday that they made their first major move this offseason.

Crabbe in exchange for Nicholson

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported on Tuesday that the Portland Trail Blazers had traded Allen Crabbe to the Brooklyn Nets. According to Wojnarowski, Portland will receive Andrew Nicholson from the Nets in exchange for Crabbe. The Trail Blazers will most likely waive the remainder of Nicholson's contract, and he'll become a free-agent.

Crabbe was drafted late in the second round of the 2013 NBA Draft and has played all of his four seasons so far with the Portland Trail Blazers.

The 6-foot-6 guard from Los Angeles played the best basketball of his career last season, as he averaged a career-high 10.7 points per game and also added 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Crabbe improved his shooting dramatically during the 2016/2017 season and also shot a career-high 44% from the three-point line. He was the third option at the guard position last season for Portland, playing behind Damian Lillard and C.J.

McCollum. He now goes to Brooklyn to join the Nets backcourt of Jeremy Lin and the newly acquired D'Angelo Russell. Crabbe has three more years left on his current contract but will have the right to opt out of his final year in 2019. It is yet to be seen what will his role with the Nets be, but it is expected that he becomes their starting shooting guard.

Fresh start for Nicholson

As we have already mentioned, Andrew Nicholson will be sent to the Trail Blazers, but they will waive him and make him an unrestricted free-agent this summer. Nicholson is a 6-foot-9, athletic power forward with solid potential on both ends of the floor. He was drafted by the Orlando Magic as the 19th pick in 2012, and he spent the first four seasons of his career with the Magic. Last season Nicholson played 28 games for the Wizards and ten games for the Brooklyn Nets. He holds career averages of 6.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.