2 areas where Cavs’ Jarrett Allen needs to improve going forward

Improvement Area No. 1 for Allen: Three-point shooting

No player is absolutely perfect in every aspect of either offense or defense; however, Jarrett Allen’s inability to produce from long range gives opposing teams a glaring weakness to attack for Cleveland.

Certainly, Cleveland’s subpar shooting is not only on Allen. This is an important reason Cleveland signed Sam Merrill to a 10-day contract.

For Jarrett Allen, though, the Pokémon enthusiast Cleveland favorite will need to adapt his game to match with Evan Mobley’s growth. With 0.3 threes attempted per game, Jarrett Allen shoots 11% from behind the arc. Allen’s physique is not that of Joel Embiid or Nikola Jokic. He cannot physically bully and back down any defender in the post; thus, finding a three-point shot and developing into a stretch big could solidify Allen’s spot on Cleveland’s roster for years and years to come.

As it stands now, unless Cleveland finds a perfect fit at the wing, they will continue to search in-house for a three-point threat. At 6-foot-9, Allen can peer over nearly any defender with ease. If he can reach even the 28-30 percent mark from three on at least two attempts per game, Allen will force teams not to suffocate the paint on defense as much.

Prior to the opening of the 2022-2023 NBA season, the Cavaliers shared a video of Jarrett Allen draining a three-pointer in a team summer scrimmage. So, this is an aspect of the game that the Cavaliers likely hope to improve as time goes on.

With time, the long range shot may find its way into Jarrett Allen’s skill set. Until then, another area of his offensive game could serve as a useful addition still to keep defenses honest.