Brooklyn Nets: 5 takeaways from the 2018-19 NBA season

3. Jarrett Allen can be special

Among the many reasons for Brooklyn Nets fans to feel optimistic about the future was Jarrett Allen’s fantastic sophomore season. After a solid rookie year, the 2017 first round pick made a name for himself in the league.

Allen seemed to rack up highlight block after highlight block throughout the season. The list of players he has denied looks like an All-Star team, with Anthony Davis, James Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Blake Griffin and even LeBron James all falling victim to the young center’s innate ability to force a last-second stop at the bucket.

Big names aside, the numbers indicate that Jarrett Allen is already one of the best rim protectors in the league. Among players that logged at least 60 games this season, Allen claimed ownership of the eighth-best block percentage, denying his opponent 56.1 percent of the time. In addition to his dominant defensive stats, he also was the seventh-most efficient player in the league, shooting an impressive 62.9 percent on 2-point shots and 59 percent overall.

At only 21 years old, there is plenty of reason to believe that Allen’s ceiling could be as a very special defensive player and a cornerstone to this young Nets squad.