Regrading the Cavs’ Jarrett Allen trade with the Nets

Regrading Cavs’ trade for Jarrett Allen: Final Grade

The Cleveland Cavaliers did a few things when they stepped into the James Harden deal. First, they acquired a talented young center; while at the time they had a logjam at the 5, all of those players were gone by the summer and Allen is clearly the center of the future in Cleveland.

Secondly, they all-but committed to signing Allen to a new deal. While that contract isn’t technically under the purview of a trade re-grading, the Cavs were able to lock down a young future All-Star for five seasons at a reasonable number; if Allen were signing that deal this summer he would certainly make significantly more than $20 million per season.

Finally, they took on the contract of Taurean Prince. That money was mostly “dead” money, but this past summer the Cavs were able to use that contract as matching salary to bring in Ricky Rubio (along with sending a second-round pick) who was an amazing fit and may rejoin the Cavs this summer.

At the time there were legitimate questions about giving up a first-round pick and taking on dead salary to acquire a somewhat unproven center in Jarrett Allen. Those questions have been answered; the pick was late in the first round, the salary was redeemed in the Rubio trade, and Allen has been even better than expected.

This deal was a “slam dunk”, a “three thumbs up” sort of trade. Jarrett Allen is an All-Star who should elevate this defense to Top-10 levels for the entirety of this contract, and he is still just barely entering his prime.

Grade: A+(+)