3 Cavs players who took a step forward this season

3 Cavs players who took a step forward: Jarrett Allen

Jarrett Allen joined the Cleveland Cavaliers a few weeks into last season, playing 51 games of a condensed schedule (and 40 as a starter). It was a good stretch as he acclimated to a new team and a new roster around him, often battling with other entrenched centers for playing time and touches.

That competition was not present this season, but it may not have mattered with the way Allen dominated on both ends of the court this year. Offensively he became the best version of what he is, a hard screener and roll man who can get up for alley-oops and attack the offensive glass. He shot 67.7 percent from the field this season, second in the NBA this year behind just Rudy Gobert. While most of his shots were assisted, he still made 98 unassisted baskets. He shot 60.9 percent from the field last year, a good but decidedly not elite number as it was this year.

Defense is where Allen truly shined as the anchor for the league’s seventh-best defense; when Allen played the Cavs had a Defensive Rating of 106, which would have ranked as the No. 1 defense in the league this year. Allen defended 15.8 field goals per game last season, holding opponents to 6.7 percent colder shooting than normal; of all players who defended at least 10 shots per game that ranked third, behind only Robert Williams III and Gobert. Last season Allen held opponents to a respectable 2.9 percent below expectation, the difference between good and elite.

Simply put, Allen was one of the best defenders in the league this season. Rudy Gobert has been a perennial All-NBA candidate by being the best in the league at protecting the paint while being hyper-efficient on offense. That looks like a lane Allen can reside in. Last summer his $20 million per season contract looked like an overpay; now it looks like a bargain.