Cavs post shows how Jarrett Allen’s big early week set tone for career year

Jarrett Allen has established himself as one of the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ cornerstones moving forward. After the Cavaliers acquired him via trade early in the 2020-21 season from the Brooklyn Nets in the then-James Harden-centric mega deal, Allen has often made his presence felt, and last year, took noticeable strides.

Some seemingly questioned the Cavaliers’ signing of him via five-year, $100 million new deal last offseason, before he was able to really be set for restricted free agency. Well, that move might end up looking like a bargain looking onward, ultimately.

In the 2021-22 campaign, Allen backed up that deal with big-time play, and had career-highs in points and rebounds per game with 16.1 and 10.8, respectively, and he and Evan Mobley formed quite the defensive duo. Allen had 1.3 blocks per outing, and Mobley tacked on 1.7 in his rookie year.

Those two guys were much of the reason for Cleveland’s defensive turnaround last season, when the team was fifth in the league in defensive rating. There was a late-season slide, somewhat because of Allen missing most of the season’s closing stretch, among other injuries, such as Mobley a bit and Dean Wade.

All things considered, though, it was a hell of a season for Allen, who made his first All-Star Game, and a recent team post on Allen’s “#CavsPlayerDay” on Monday highlighted that from the club.

And in that “By the Numbers” post, one of the numbers that stood out was Allen’s four-game tear early on that led to him being named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week in November.

"“4 … consecutive games racking up 15-plus points and 15-plus rebounds from November 1-7 becoming the second player for the Cavs in the last 25 seasons to record four consecutive games with 15+PTS and 15+ REB (Anderson Varejao, 5 from Nov. 26-Dec. 3, 2012).”"

This recent Cavs post expressed how that big week early on for Allen was one that seemingly set the tone for him in a career year.

This stretch from Nov. 1-7 was one where Allen, as the Cavaliers stated, had four consecutive games of 15-plus points and 15-plus rebounds, which put him in rarified air in the historical context of the Wine and Gold.

In those outings, these were his statlines, in all of which were wins for Cleveland:

• 24 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks (plus-12) at the Charlotte Hornets on Nov. 1
• 24 points, 17 rebounds and four assists (plus-5) vs. the Portland Trail Blazers on Nov. 3
• 16 points and 15 rebounds (plus-5) at the Toronto Raptors on Nov. 5
• 18 points, 17 rebounds, four assists (though to three turnovers), and two steals (plus-17) at the New York Knicks on Nov. 7

That week from Allen was one where he definitely made an imprint among Cavaliers fans it seemed, as the production above I’m sure factored into. It was early in the past season, sure, but that was assuredly a stretch of contests where it was apparent that in the rest of the year to come, huge things were coming for Allen, and it seemed as if he was really on a mission.

The Cavs post emphasized how in his 56 appearances, Allen had “32” double-doubles last season as well, and how the Fro “topped the 20-point mark 16 times.”

Of course, for the Cavs overall, it was a season where they surprised everybody, doubling their win total from the previous campaign, and they had to overcome tons of injuries and absences. Cleveland ultimately did lose two games in the Play-In to the Brooklyn Nets and then Atlanta Hawks, and Allen missing most of post-All-Star break play didn’t help, however, it was definitely a promising year, and one should feel optimistic about what’s to come.

As we noted, though, it was a hell of a season for Allen, in what was Year 5 for him, and his first full year with the Cavaliers, when he was an All-Star reserve.

His rolling abilities were on display in plenty of sequences with Darius Garland, who made his first All-Star Game as well, and Allen’s rim protection and growth in some instances on switchouts jumped out throughout the year. And it was encouraging to see Allen’s continued development on hook shots and push shots, his improved footwork and his strides with self-creation with some drives was impressive.

Overall, it’s clear that going forward, Allen is pivotal to Cleveland’s defense, especially in tandem with Mobley, but at still just 24, there could be more untapped offensive capabilities from him. Some mid-range flashes were on display at times, to that point.

Hopefully, the big man can keep building on last season, and in my opinion, he will, and should continue to demonstrate why he’s one of the NBA’s best two-way 5s looking onward.