Cleveland Cavaliers: 2 underrated aspects of Jarrett Allen’s game

Jarrett Allen was a heck of a trade acquisition for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Cleveland Cavaliers being able to acquire Jarrett Allen, most notably, and Taurean Prince by being a club involved in the James Harden-to Brooklyn Nets-centric blockbuster deal on Wednesday was big for them.

Cleveland sent Dante Exum to the Houston Rockets, to go with their 2022 first-round pick via the Milwaukee Bucks. And they sent their 2024 second-round pick, of which is the lesser between them and the Utah Jazz, to the Nets, and the Nets, while he’ll be an unknown, sent Cleveland their draft rights to 2017 57th overall pick Aleksandar Vezenkov, per a report from Forbes and Fear The Sword’s Evan Dammarell.

Cleveland, while it’s a minor detail from the deal, per a report from Keith Smith of Yahoo! Sports on Thursday, renounced their free agent rights to Channing Frye (retired) and Ante Zizic, who is now playing for Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv in the Israeli League/Euroleague.

In terms of the other reported details involved with the trade, you can view those here, anyway.

When it comes to Allen, circling back, though, it’s evident that he’ll be Cleveland’s long-term answer at the starting 5 spot, and it’s safe to say that Andre Drummond likely won’t be around past this season.

Drummond has been a subject of trade rumors, with how he’s on an expiring deal and per a report from Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, one Eastern Conference executive believes the Cavs will “look to dump” Drummond, following the move for Allen.

And per Scotto in that report, multiple East executives believe “the writing is on the wall for Drummond’s future in Cleveland,” and one East executive insisted that, per Scotto, Drummond is “definitely out of Cleveland,” for further context.

Needless to say, Allen, who is set to be a restricted free agent this offseason, of which he’s set to be extended a $5.7 million qualifying offer, is a piece that the Cavs are seemingly going to all but certainly lock up long-term.

Could we see Drummond simply sign elsewhere this offseason, though? It’d appear to still be a possibility, and Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz seemingly noted that his $28.8 million salary for this season won’t be so simple to move. He did list the Charlotte Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, Toronto Raptors or San Antonio Spurs are theoretical possibilities, though.

In any case, it’s again apparent that Allen should be a player that’s a key part of Cleveland’s future looking onward. And a piece that’s seemingly set to surely be moved by the deadline, conversely, is JaVale McGee. He’s only on the books for $4.2 million this season, and according to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor (subscription required), the Cavs are “already received calls” about him.

If Cleveland were to move both Drummond and McGee, they’d bring a reserve 5 back as part of a potential package, one would assume. Or if one is retained through the deadline, this offseason the Cavaliers could look to sign a backup 5 for Allen I’d imagine via fairly team-friendly deal, if McGee for example, isn’t back.

Looking at Allen again, though, he’ll be a formidable presence on the interior at both ends as a diver/screener/lob threat, and defensively, he’ll feasibly be there long-term anchor inside. Thus far with the Nets this season in mostly a bench role, he’s had 11.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per outing, and is an ascending player that’s only 22.

But a few underrated aspects of his game I believe also will really aid the Cavaliers.

We’ll emphasize those two that jump out here for the Cavs.

Both relate to the offensive end, in particular.