Cavs: Where does Jarrett Allen rank among the league’s centers?
Where does Jarrett Allen rank among the league’s centers? Tier 2 – Perennial All-Stars
Below the level of MVP candidates we have players who are bringing elite production to one or both ends of the court, and are either making All-Star teams frequently when healthy or deserve to be.
Bam Adebayo leads the way here, although he plays many of his minutes with another big man on the court; all of the guys in this tier do. Adebayo runs the Miami Heat offense from the elbow, facilitating and scoring himself. He has an improved jumper and one day should get out to the 3-point line. Defensively he is strong and can take on most centers in the post, but his best strength is his footspeed to guard smaller players on switches.
Karl-Anthony Towns is more one-sided than Adebayo, but he is absolutely sublime on that one side. His career averages after six seasons are 22.9 points, 11.6 rebounds and 2.4 3-pointers per game on 39.4 percent shooting. He can score from anywhere, bombs triples like he’s the missing splash brother and elevates an entire team’s offense just by himself.
Myles Turner is our third entry on this list, and perhaps the most peculiar as he has never made an All-Star team. His defensive impact is intense, and few players defend the rim as ferociously as Turner, who twice has lead the league in blocks. This past season he averaged an eye-popping 3.4 blocks per game! Offensively he spaces the floor as a 3-point shooter, a necessity playing alongside Domantas Sabonis and a boon for every teammate.
As solid as Jarrett Allen is as a finisher, he does not create offense or elevate the play of his teammates; he is a dependent player on offense. Add in the fact that he doesn’t space the floor either, and he is a major step below this tier on offense, and below both Adebayo and Turner on defense. This isn’t where he lands either. Financially, Towns and Adebayo are two of the six players who make more than Allen, while Turner is tied with him with a $20 million AAV.