Cleveland Cavaliers: Jarrett Allen needs to replace Andre Drummond

Andre Drummond has served his purpose in helping to uplift the Cleveland Cavaliers and revamp a culture that had no direction a year ago. However, it’s becoming abundantly clear that Jarrett Allen is capable of doing all of the same things as Drummond – without any of the negative attributes that weigh the team down.

Before we pile on criticism of Drummond, let’s give credit where credit is due. The two-time All-Star joined a Cavaliers’ team that was dead last in Defensive Rating last year and played a vital role in transforming them into a competent squad on that end of the floor.

Drummond is a walking double-double and leads the league in rebounding by a wide margin. There’s no way the Cavaliers would be contending for playoff position right now without Drummond and his impact can’t be overlooked.

Yet, as anyone who has watched Drummond can tell you, his erratic performances hurt the team almost as much as his stat-sheet stuffing helps. Drummond is one of the few players in the NBA who can grab 15+ rebounds and still post a negative plus/minus (he’s done it three times this season).

The Cleveland Cavaliers are a playoff team because of Andre Drummond, but Jarrett Allen should soon replace him in the starting lineup.

Drumond was critical to the team’s success early this season as multiple key rotational players were sidelined with injuries. Without the shot-creation of Collin Sexton and Darius Garland, it was necessary to pound the ball inside and feed Drummond. This not only slowed down the pace of the game but also established the Cavaliers’ grit and grind mentality that has become their identity.

Now that Garland and Sexton are back in the lineup, surrounded by quality shooters like Taurean Prince, Dylan Windler and Cedi Osman, it makes no sense for the Cavaliers to dump the ball in the post. But, when Drummond is on the floor, this has become their gameplan.

This has less to do with J.B. Bickerstaff being a bad coach and more with how Drummond, in a contract year, demands to have the ball in his hands. We can’t blame him for wanting a large role in the offense – but at a certain point, his touches are beginning to hinder the team.

It makes no sense to have one of the most dynamic backcourts in the league reduced to sitting on the perimeter and watching an inefficient post-player force hook shots in the paint. Drummond is third in the NBA in total post-touches but in the 39th percentile for scoring in the post. Yikes.

So, why not just run pick-and-roll? That seems to be the key to most modern-NBA offenses, right? Well, Drummond is even worse in these scenarios, ranking in the 19th percentile and only acting as the roll-man in seven-percent of his possessions as opposed to a near 30 percent frequency in the post. The Cavaliers allow Drummond to post-up over a quarter of their possessions when he’s on the floor – and it just isn’t working.

Enter Jarrett Allen, who not only leads the entire association in field goal percentage but is one of the league’s best roll-mans and has shown to be much more effective with the Cavs’ young core than Drummond.

Allen is a constant ariel threat, acting as Garland’s favorite target for alley-oops. In his first start with the team, Allen posted the first game of 23 points, 18 rebounds and five blocks in Cleveland Cavaliers franchise history.

In a classic example of understanding his role, Allen posts up fewer than 10 times a game. He plays solely to his strength as a rim-runner and has recorded nearly double the number of screen assists as Drummond this season.

At 22-years of age, it’s only a matter of time before Allen claims his spot in the starting five next to the other core players. The future of Drummond’s career in Cleveland remains hanging in the balance, but Allen’s has only begun.