Report: Cavs expected to continue receiving trade calls for Jarrett Allen

Even after signing a three-year extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers, big man Jarrett Allen is expected to continue garnering trade interest around the NBA, according to a report.

Allen can’t be traded until February, but there will be a short window of time where he’ll be eligible to be traded before the deadline this coming season. Of course, teams could pursue him even beyond this season.

“The Cavaliers on Friday made it official and announced Jarrett Allen’s three-year, $91 million contract extension,” wrote NBA insider Marc Stein.

“It’s believed that Allen was essentially obligated to sign the deal before Aug. 6 as a condition of Cleveland extending him at the maximum amount allowed based on the 26-year-old’s current contract.

“Allen thus becomes eligible to be traded on Feb. 2, 2025 … four days before next season’s deadline. Rest assured that the Cavaliers’ proverbial phone will continue to ring with Allen interest, as it has for years, given the ongoing belief leaguewide that Evan Mobley and Allen are a suspect long-term fit as a duo. The Cavaliers, of course, recently signed Mobley and star guard Donovan Mitchell to max extensions.

“As with [Lauri] Markkanen, Allen would have been ineligible to be traded during the upcoming season had his extension been formally signed after Tuesday.”

The Cavs have had a busy offseason in terms of taking care of their own, locking down Allen, Mobley and Mitchell via contract extensions. That may indicate that Cleveland believes in its core — which also features Darius Garland — but if the Cavs feel like they need to shake things up at some point, they could opt to break up their core via trade.

Allen’s fit with Mobley will be a key storyline to watch this coming season. While the two bigs have formed a strong defensive frontcourt in their three seasons together, there have been questions about their viability as a duo from a spacing perspective.

However, Mobley showed some signs of growth last season from beyond the arc, as he knocked down 37.3 percent of his 3-pointers. He only attempted 1.2 of them per game, but if he can scale that success into something more and become a legitimate stretch big, he and Allen would certainly benefit as a duo.

Allen, a one-time All-Star, averaged 16.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game last season while shooting 63.4 percent from the field. He’s such a solid center that it’s no wonder why teams around the league may want to get their hands on him, but right now, it looks like the Cavs are happy to have him.

Cleveland finally won a playoff series last season before fizzling out in the second round against the Boston Celtics. In somewhat controversial fashion, Allen missed part of the first round and the entire Boston series, so he may be motivated to help the Cavs enjoy a more successful playoff run this coming season.

For now, he remains a key part of Cleveland’s core. It’s anyone’s guess if that will eventually change.