What would a good 2023-24 season look like for Cavaliers’ Jarrett Allen?

To start off this article, from the group here at KJG, we’d like to say congratulations to Jarrett Allen. Recently on Instagram, he posted a picture of him and his now fiancée. He proposed to his girlfriend, and is now going to be married.

Anyway, Jarrett Allen has proved to be one of the best centers in all of basketball. He’s a high-level rebounder, screen setter, and rim protector. His energy and hustle is an under-appreciated part of his game, and he’s one of the most underrated players in the whole NBA.

When it comes to his defense, however, he’s always been outstanding. Allen’s defensive rating was second in the whole NBA last season, only behind Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo. Funnily enough, Evan Mobley was the third-best player, among qualified players, when it comes to defensive rating.

Accoring to NBA.com’s hustle stats, Jarrett Allen had the fourth-most screen assists per game and the third-most contested two-pointers per game in the playoffs last year. Cleveland is a very prominent pick-and-roll team, and having a guy like Allen on the team is helpful for the screen-setting part.

Now, unfortunately, in the playoffs, Allen was out-muscled. Against the New York Knicks, Allen averaged 9.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game. He was outplayed by New York’s Mitchell Robinson, who averaged 9.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks against Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs.

According to Allen after the playoff series, he said that “the lights were brighter than expected.” Watching the series against New York, it seemed like Cleveland was unprepared, and didn’t see losing in five games to be possible. One should cut the Cavaliers some slack, though. Players like Darius Garland and Evan Mobley played in their first playoff basketball in their short NBA careers, and this is the first year the team has had Donovan Mitchell, so one should not overreact.

Allen is already a one-time All-Star, as he was as an injury-fill in for the 2021-22 playoffs, which were in Cleveland, funnily enough. He and his teammate, Garland, were both All-Stars, and they, alongside Mobley, won the Skills Challenge.

In Allen’s All-Star season he averaged 16.1 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game. As of last year, he averaged 14.3 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game. His 2021-22 season was statistically better, but that doesn’t mean that Allen isn’t an All-Star talent when he’s at his best.

Next season is an important year for Allen. Allen is reportedly a player who has generated trade interest from around the league, which makes sense. A lot of teams could use a player like Allen.

He should bounce back in the playoffs, also, and should prove why he was an All-Star two seasons ago.

Granted, his touches have dropped, since players like Garland, Mitchell, and now Mobley are all going to get a lot of shots up. Even a player like Max Strus or Caris LeVert will be taking a good amount of shots. How many shots will be left for Allen at this point? We’ll have to wait and see.

What would a good season look for Allen, then? Statistically, he doesn’t need to produce a lot of points to be impactful. Getting rebounds, setting screens, and providing energy is a big component of Allen’s style and also the Cavaliers being successful. Here’s what a good season would look like for Allen, statistically, though.

14.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game would be a good 2023-24 for Allen.

Allen could have a career year when it comes to assists. His career-high in assists for a year is 1.7, which isn’t far off from 2.0. Since Cleveland has a lot of great shooters now, too, and Allen’s connective passing and dribble handoff play is underrated, to some degree.

So, will the Cavaliers be able to bounce back next season, and make a deep postseason run? That could happen, but Allen is one of Cleveland’s X-factors, and if he isn’t playing his best brand of basketball, the Cavaliers might not have a fighting chance.

However, if Allen can have another All-Star-caliber season or another consistently top-notch season, then the Cavs might be a powerhouse come next April.