4 Cleveland Cavaliers players who surprised this season

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Jarrett Allen, Cleveland Cavaliers. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

4 Cavs that surprised in 2021-22 – #3: Jarrett Allen

Regarding other Cavs that surprised this season, I have to then go with Jarrett Allen, first, and then I’ll highlight Lamar Stevens, with the two to me being combined as the third Cav that comes to mind, if you will.

With Allen, last offseason, many seemingly were giving the Cavaliers their share of flack for giving Allen a five-year, $100 million new contract, with others involved at the big spots and with the team recently drafting Evan Mobley. I did get that still, as Allen is not a stretch big, and is not an offensive hub, so-to-speak.

But he was undoubtedly a player that looked to be a crucial piece for the team moving forward, and after they acquired him via trade early on last season, he was among the club’s best players. Additionally, he proved this season to be more than worthy of his new deal, and is one of the teams’ leaders and most important players.

Allen and Mobley were outstanding for Cleveland this season, and in the majority of the time when they were both healthy, the Cavs had one of the league’s best defenses. When Allen went out in March up until the Atlanta play-in game, he was badly missed on both ends, for what it’s worth.

This season, overall, also factoring in his growth offensively, and as a post player, he had a career season, and again, made his first All-Star appearance. He had career-highs in points (16.1) and rebounds (10.8) per game, and was second among qualified players in field goal percentage at 67.7 percent.

He was a big reason, in tandem with Mobley, as to why the Cavaliers conceded the lowest field goal percentage to opponents in the restricted area this season at 60.5 percent, too, per NBA.com’s shot tracking data.

Needless to say, while Allen looked to be a quality young piece, his offensive growth and production uptick was a pleasant surprise, and he even showed some switchability progression on defense this year, and leaned into more of a leadership role. I can’t say I saw this from Allen before the season.