One Cleveland Cavaliers reporter claimed that folks within the organization look back and laugh at the fact that the team was able to trade for Jarrett Allen by giving up little more than a late first-round pick.
“When the Cavs got Jarrett, when they were able to trade for him — and they still, to this day they still can’t believe that they only had to give up a late first-round pick, basically, to get him,” Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor said. “There are people inside the organization that still laugh and talk about that like, ‘Wait, we got him for a late first-round pick? Seriously, that’s what happened?'”
The Cavaliers acquired Allen along with Taurean Prince in a three-team with the Brooklyn Nets and Houston Rockets. Cleveland had to trade Dante Exum and an unprotected 2022 first-round pick (via the Milwaukee Bucks) to the Rockets along with second-round draft compensation to Brooklyn.
Allen has cemented himself as an All-Star caliber player since joining the Cavaliers. He actually earned an All-Star appearance in his first full season with the team — the 2021-22 campaign — and enjoyed arguably a career year last season.
He averaged career-highs in points (16.5) and assists (2.7) while also pulling down 10.5 rebounds per game in 77 games played in Cleveland during the 2023-24 regular season.
It’s hard to argue that Allen isn’t far and away the best player who the Cavaliers traded or acquired in that three-team deal in 2021. Exum and Prince are fresh off productive campaigns with the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers, respectively, but both served as role players.
If it weren’t for a rib injury that kept Allen sidelined for the lion’s share of Cleveland’s stint in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, maybe the Cavaliers would have put up more of a fight in their second-round series against the Boston Celtics. Allen’s presence could have been especially impactful against the 2024 NBA champions because the team was without its starting big man in Kristaps Porzingis at the time. Like Allen, Porzingis sat out the entire series.
Without Allen holding down the fort defensively and finishing at the rim on the other end, the Cavaliers lost to the Celtics in five games. After knotting things up at one game apiece with a Game 2 victory, Cleveland came up short in each of the last three games of the series.
For all the growth Allen has shown since he started his Cavaliers tenure, he seemingly still has his best years in the NBA ahead of him. He’s only 26 years old after all, and he won’t turn 27 until the month of April.
