There were positive signs from Cavs’ Jarrett Allen in this area in 2021-22

When the Cleveland Cavaliers signed Jarrett Allen to a five-year, $100 million new deal last offseason, that was seemingly met with its share of criticism from the team’s fanbase, and some media members, at least from a national scope.

I understood the reasoning there. Allen is by no means a stretch big, and for his first three-plus seasons with the Brooklyn Nets, he was primarily a roller and play finisher in the dunker spot in set offense.

There were flashes from Allen at times in other areas on the offensive end, and he proved to have great touch inside with both hands, with some post-up ability, but he was by no means looking to be a catch-and-shoot player from three. The self creation was not exactly anything at high volume, either.

It was apparent that Allen absolutely looked to have the makings of a core piece for Cleveland for coming years, though, and his rim protection, screening and rebounding were quality foundational skills for the team to count on from him looking onward.

I was optimistic that Allen could have a big season, even with a somewhat clunky offensive outlook on paper with him and seemingly Evan Mobley, with Mobley’s passing feel, cerebral play and the two looking to potentially be a big-time defensive pairing.

Fortunately for the Cavs and Allen, the 5 man was outstanding this season after being inked to that new deal, as he had a career season with highs in points (16.1) and rebounds (10.8) per contest, and he made his first All-Star appearance. It was cool to watch Allen and fellow Cav Darius Garland rep the team and the city of Cleveland for Team LeBron in the 2022 All-Star Game which Cleveland hosted, too.

Allen was terrific defensively for Cleveland this season, and even more so in tandem with Mobley when both were healthy. Mobley does need to get stronger over this offseason to help him next year, but his versatility, otherworldly defensive IQ, contesting of shots, and team feel were all so impressive for a rookie, and Allen worked really well with him.

Plus, Allen showed some capabilities to be switchable onto perimeter players at times, and he was Cleveland’s key defensive communicator and anchor. So, when he was out for most of post-All-Star break play, it hurt the Cavaliers defense immensely. It wasn’t the sole reason for Cleveland’s slide then, but it definitely was a factor, and Dean Wade‘s injury later on didn’t help.

When examining the offensive end of the floor, though, Allen made legit strides, especially when it came to helping generate plays for himself as a finisher with hook shots after getting position in mid-clock situations. And his push shots were effective as a cutter, which paired well in the pick-and-roll game with Darius Garland.

That said, I also thought while the volume wasn’t going to be a ton of the time with others involved, Allen did show some positive development as a passer this season, too.

There were positive signs from Allen as a passer for the Cavs this season, and that was encouraging.

Allen is not going to be the second coming of say, Nikola Jokic, Domantas Sabonis, or Arvydas Sabonis, all three of whom have made their mark as incredible passing bigs that have rare vision and passing timing as passers.

I acknowledge that, and at first glance, Allen’s 1.6-to-1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio this season doesn’t exactly signal he’s going to be a significant passing presence from here for Cleveland. His assist-to-turnover ratio through five seasons has been 1.4-to-1.3, for further context.

That being said, Allen did make some strides this season as a passer in hitting cutters, showed better timing when hitting big-to-big feeds at times to Evan Mobley or Lauri Markkanen, and he did demonstrate some growth making dishes to shooters.

Allen is also a player that sets very meaningful handoffs for Garland, along with guys such as Cedi Osman, and when healthy, Collin Sexton. I’d imagine we could see that play out with him in stretches with Caris LeVert, too, if he’s around, for what it’s worth.

Last season, we saw Allen progress some with making quicker decisions in 4-on-3 situations as well, and he did show flashes of making plays out of the short roll in hitting guys on the corners or on the weak side on the perimeter. Those are the kinds of signs that should lead to optimism regarding that aspect, with him still only 24.

Going forward, I’m not suggesting it will be at a high volume with other playmakers, and it might not be to the same degree as Mobley, who is a more versatile passer, but those signs from Allen were meaningful from this season.

If he can build on that from here for stretches in games, and keep showing the propensity to make sound plays out of double teams inside, that will help Cleveland more in set offense.