Multiple NBA Teams Are Reportedly Interested In Acquiring Jarrett Allen

Highlights

The Cavaliers’ offseason is off to a rocky start, with reports of player unrest surfacing.
Jarrett Allen’s potential suitors include the Kings, Thunder, and Pelicans.
Allen’s defensive impact and team-friendly contract make him a desirable addition for multiple teams.

The Cleveland Cavaliers offseason is off to a turbulent start. Their season came to an end on Wednesday at the hands of the Boston Celtics, getting eliminated in a 4–1 gentlemen’s sweep in the second-round of the NBA Playoffs.

It took little time for the wheels to start falling off for the Cavaliers. At least, that’s how it seems at the moment. A floodgate of reports has come in regarding several of Cleveland’s players.

Some of the reports include: Cleveland being unhappy with Jarrett Allen’s unwillingness to play through his injury, Darius Garland potentially requesting a trade, Evan Mobley’s camp not wanting the Cavaliers to draft him, and more.

With regard to Allen, if the relationship between him and the team is souring, Cleveland journalist Evan Dammarell is reporting that Jarrett won’t be short on potential suitors.

Allen has two more years left on his contract with the Cavaliers and is expected to earn $20 million in each of those seasons. The former All-Star Center has a very team-friendly contract, making it no surprise that teams would be ready to gather at the gates in hopes of acquiring his talents.

Best Fit

Allen would push the Thunder one step closer to a championship

The Oklahoma City Thunder were this season’s one seed in the Western Conference. They currently trail the Dallas Mavericks three games to two in their second-round matchup. Even if they were to get past Luka Dončić and the Mavs, they would be locked in for a date with either Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets or Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Both of their potential Western Conference Finals matchups feature elite big men. If they manage to wrestle the series back from the Mavericks, their reward is trying to slow down the best player in basketball (Jokić), or deal with the twin towers of Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns.

For a team that has struggled with defending against size all season, it takes very few mental leaps to imagine why the Thunder would want to throw themselves into the mix for a player like Allen.

Jarrett Allen – Defensive Impact Over The Years
Category	Allen 21-22	Allen 22-23	Allen 23-24
DRPG	7.3	6.5	7.4
SPG	0.8	0.8	0.7
BPG	1.3	1.2	1.1
Def. BPM	1.2	1.0	0.9
Def. WS	3.0	4.0	3.9

Allen would give the Thunder some lineup flexibility moving forward. The team could run Allen together with Chet Holmgren and feature a twin towers lineup of their own, allowing Allen to be tasked with the bulkier bigs that have given the team matchup problems previously.

Alternatively, the twenty-six-year-old center could come off the bench for the team and be a spot started with matchups if the team is comfortable having some fluidity as to who they feature outside their man guys like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams.

Either way, the potential addition would likely put the Thunder one step closer to being in a position to make it out of the bloodbath that is the Western Conference playoffs.

Other Fits

Kings and Pelicans present more question marks regarding Allen’s potential addition

The involvement of the other two teams here, the Sacramento Kings and the New Orleans Pelicans, is a little more questionable.

Domantas Sabonis has thrived in Sacramento, upon shifting permanently to the Center position and moving away from the Indiana Pacers where he played Power Forward in a frontcourt duo with Myles Turner. Allen and Sabonis could potentially create some similar issues to what the Pacers had with their pairing.

Domantas Sabonis – Indiana vs. Sacramento Comparison
Category	21-22 with Pacers	22–23 Kings	23–24 Kings
PPG	18.9	19.1	19.4
APG	5.0	7.3	8.2
RPG	12.1	12.3	13.7
FG%	58.0	7.3	8.2

Sabonis was still a productive and talented player when paired with Turner, but playing center full-time in his role with the Kings has allowed his overall production to increase as his all-around game flourished.

The Pelicans are a tough fit to evaluate considering they may be headed for some roster changes this offseason. However, the on-court fit of Allen and star forward Zion Williamson could present some challenges offensively when it comes to spacing the floor. Neither Allen nor Zion present a shooting threat from the perimeter. The two combined for an average of 0.4 three-pointers attempted last season.

Contract details are courtesy of Spotrac. Statistics are courtesy of Basketball Reference.