Halfway through the season, who’s the Cavs’ second-best player?

Jarrett Allen has been the Cavs’ second-best player

It’s Jarrett Allen, hands down, the answer is Jarrett Allen. The former Texas Longhorn is averaging the fourth-most (32.8) minutes and (13.2) points per game this season on Cleveland. For players averaging 20 minutes or more per game on this team, No. 31 has the highest field goal percentage of any player, while also leading the team with (9.8) rebounds per game, which means he sits on the cusp of averaging a double-double halfway through the season.

By the end of Sunday night’s game at the Phoenix Suns, the big fella had finished recording his 15th double-double on the year. He’s basically bound and determined to get you double-digit points nightly. In home games this season Jarrett is recording 10 or more points in 63.2% of home games that he’s played in, while on the road he’s done it in 80% of games when playing 10 minutes or more.

Jarrett Allen is one of the Cavaliers’ most consistent players night in and night out. Out of 42 possible games so far this season, Allen has laced up for 35 of them, and when the big is out, the Cavs have a record of 3-5. That’s also if you’re counting Tuesday night’s game, where he finished with only 7 minutes of play. The Cavs’ 2022 All-Star center exited the game in the first quarter in Utah due to sickness and did not return; he is probable for Thursday night’s game at the Portland Trail Blazers.

During his first two absences (Nov. 13 with an ankle injury and Nov. 16, due to Non-COVID illness) of this year, the team dropped two straight, which was the end of a five-game losing streak. He also missed five straight games from (Nov. 27-Dec. 5), where the team positively went 3-2, but ranked dead-last in points per game (98.2) during that span.

The halfcourt offense is largely initiated through Allen’s frame, where the 6-foot-9 big is always active with screens at the top of the key. He’s always ready for a quick dime in the paint or a lob at the rim. In the last 15 seconds of regulation in Mitchell’s stunner, with Donovan attacking the basket, Allen’s man stepped up with the “help” defense, while number No. 45 dished an off the mark pass to the big man. He snagged it with one hand, got control, turned and sunk a floater over the defender, closing the lead to one with 8.9 seconds to go.

You take small things like that for granted when in fact, it could have led to a turnover and we were left talking about what could have been and not the classic that was. Defensively he has the third-best defensive-rating (107.7) out of 17 centers who average thirty or more minutes per game this season. Allen has the second-best defensive field goal percentage (44.3) on this roster as well, and is fourth in the league in shot contests per game, per NBA.com’s hustle data.

I’m not saying that this will be the answer at the end of the 82-game season. But as far as the player who brings the most value and production behind the one and only Donovan Mitchell, it’s Jarrett Allen. The Cavaliers can still score and win games without the means of Garland, the record proves it. They already do it without a solid everyday starter at the 3, too, although I believe they find a way to add one.

If you were to take Allen off this roster, it just wouldn’t be the same team. He’s more than valuable to this team, irreplaceable even, and it’s why he’s the Cavs’ second-best player so far this season.