Cavs: Grading the Jarrett Allen signing on three levels

Grading the Jarrett Allen signing: The Opportunity

This is the area where re-signing Allen at such a lofty number begins to make more sense. If the Cavs had not signed Allen to that contract and he had walked in restricted free agency, how could the team have replaced him?

On the roster the need for Allen is palpable. They have no true centers under contract, with Isaiah Hartenstein declining his player option to hit free agency this summer as well. Evan Mobley might one day be a center but he is very slight right now and needs time in an NBA strength and conditioning program. Kevin Love can play at center if you surround him with the right defensive talent, but he is so injured these days the team can’t rely on him. Larry Nance Jr. can play small ball center but having him play every minute checking much larger, heavier players would not maximize his abilities.

On the open market the pickings were just as slim. Richaun Holmes was arguably a better player than Allen last season, but he agreed to a contract to return to the Sacramento Kings only a few hours after Allen agreed to his. It’s unlikely he would have still be around by the time Allen’s restricted free agency process worked out.

The drop off after those two players was as steep as it gets. Kelly Olynyk, Daniel Theis, Cody Zeller — none of these are the guy you want to trust at center. Theis would be a reasonable stopgap center, but in a rotation that keeps his minutes down and on a short-term contract. He wouldn’t be a long-term solution.

The fit with Allen on this roster is good, but it’s not elite as he is a non-shooter who is best deployed in a conservative defensive scheme. He is solid in that role, but he’s not as versatile as other players. Add on the very questionable financial value of paying him $20 million per year for the next half-decade, and the re-signing looks like a mistake.

Yet you also have to consider opportunity, and for a team over the cap their options to build an entire center rotation were limited. Allen is young, fits this team’s timeline and is valued around the league, so in a pinch his contract might be tradeable. Either way he should help this team in the here and now, and the franchise can figure out the rest later on.

Grade: A-