Last offseason, there were calls to break up the Cleveland Cavaliers and their core four of Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Darius Garland, and Jarrett Allen. Instead, the Cavs stood pat and the only change they made was hiring Kenny Atkinson to be their new head coach.
The move to stand pat was a masterstroke by President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman. The Cavs took the league by storm this season, as they went wire to wire in the Eastern Conference, starting the year off 15-0, and they never looked back. Finishing the season with 64 wins and the number one seed, Cleveland seemed poised to make a deep playoff run.
Instead, the Cavs were bounced in the second round by the buzzsaw that is the Indiana Pacers, losing in five games and suffering multiple meltdowns in the series. Cleveland did deal with injuries to Mitchell, Mobley, Garland, and De’Andre Hunter, but even they will tell you that the series was a missed opportunity.
Now, the Cavs are headed for a loud offseason, and after another postseason failure, standing pat is not an option. There is one move in particular that they have to make.
The Cleveland Cavaliers must move on from Jarrett Allen this summer
Since arriving in Cleveland in 2021, Allen has enjoyed major success. He has averaged 15 points per game and ten rebounds on 65 percent shooting. He’s been a great pick-and-roll partner for Garland, and on the other end of the floor, the Fro Show has been a huge reason why the Cavs have been one of the league’s best defensive teams the last three seasons.
So why should Cleveland move on? Because of his no shows when it matters the most: the playoffs.
In 2023, Allen himself admitted that the lights were too bright as the Cavs were outclassed by the Knicks in five games, and Allen got dominated on the boards by Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein. In 2024, Allen looked well on his way to bucking that narrative, averaging 17 PPG and 13 rebounds in four games against the Magic, before suffering a pierced rib injury that cost him the rest of the playoffs.
In 2025, Allen had a great first-round series against the Heat, but found himself getting played off the floor against the Pacers. With him on the court, Cleveland had a 118 defensive rating against Indiana. He was constantly getting picked on by Tyrese Haliburton in the halfcourt and could not keep up with the pace of the Pacers.
Jarrett Allen is expendable for the Cavs
In the last two games of the series, Allen finished with a miserable 11 points and six rebounds combined. He showed a stunning lack of engagement to end the series, and when the Cavs needed him most, he was nowhere to be found.
Last year, it was about whether or not Mobley and Allen could fit together on the court. In the regular season, it worked. In the playoffs, though, it did not. The duo had a -1.3 net rating together this postseason, and Cleveland had its most success when it played through Mobley at the five.
With Mobley having the best season of his career and just tapping into his potential, the Cavs have to move on from Allen. Getting back a tough-minded big man and another wing player would be ideal, and if made available, Allen will have a market. In order for Cleveland to get to that next level, they need to make tough decisions, and Allen should be the first domino to fall.