CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers have three All-Stars and three players who have garnered nearly all of the team’s crunch-time attention during their historic regular season.
But they’ll also still yell from the rooftops that the “big four” hasn’t changed, and won’t be anytime soon.
As the Cavs finish out the regular season and begin preparing for the playoffs — they’re well on their way to securing the No. 1 seed in the East home-court advantage to the Finals — they see center Jarrett Allen as vital as ever to how they operate.
Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley punched their tickets to the All-Star Game in San Francisco. Mitchell has remained an MVP candidate. Garland has been among the game’s best players in the clutch. Mobley has a serious shot at winning Defensive Player of the Year during a season in which he’s blossomed into a star-level talent.
Then there’s Allen, who at times hasn’t been on the floor in situations that would have called his number in the past, a result of the Cavs adding to the roster. He hasn’t had as many big moments, or highlight-reel plays, or award conversations. But the Cavs see him as the backbone of what they do in addition to being as positive of an influence in a locker room that a player can possibly be.
“He’s part of the ‘big four,'” said Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson recently. “There’s no question about that. There’s not a big three. There’s a big four. He’s a big part of it.”
Jarrett Allen stats
Allen has averaged 13.6 points (on an efficient 70% shooting from the floor) and 10.2 rebounds in 28.6 minutes. His scoring has been down a touch from last year, as well as his minutes — the latter partially because of the Cavs blowing out so many teams that starters haven’t been needed as much.
But particularly due to the go-for-it addition of De’Andre Hunter at the trade deadline, the Cavs have added a few wrinkles to how they can attack teams. They’re more flexible than they’ve ever been during this recent run.
It has led to some moments in which Allen is on the bench when in the past he certainly would have been on the floor, if it’s determined that Hunter and Mobley are the best duo for that stretch of time.
Allen has taken those moments in stride — which isn’t a surprise to anyone else in the Cavs locker room.
“It’s not easy. He’d have every right to be mad, to be frustrated,” said Max Strus. “But like I’ve said several times, he’s the best human being in this locker room and wants nothing but the best for everybody else in here and for the team. JA is the just the best human ever, so we’re lucky to have him.”
Jarrett Allen leads NBA in true shooting percentage, is third in win shares
It isn’t for a lack of efficiency, performance or value. Looking at the advanced metrics, they’ll tell you that few players in the league have been more valuable than Allen, even as Mitchell, Garland and Mobley have dwarfed him in attention and accolades.
Allen leads the NBA in true shooting percentage (which weighs 2-point, 3-point and free-throw attempts) at 72.5. He ranks 11th in player efficiency rating (22.2), just ahead of star players Jalen Brunson and Jayson Tatum.
He’s third in the NBA in Win Shares (how much a player contributes to his team winning) with 9.9, trailing only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic, the two leading MVP contenders. He has the No. 1 offensive rating (142.4) and the fourth-best defensive rating (106.9) in the league, making him the only player in the NBA to be top-10 in both categories.
Sometimes the matchup, or a point in a certain game, calls for a different lineup to best take advantage of Allen’s skillset.
“We have good eye contact,” Atkinson said, speaking to the trust he’s built with Allen. “We have a great relationship, and I talk to him about anything. It’s huge. I think if I was a new coach, he would probably be like, ‘Oh, man, he doesn’t trust me.’ You could go down that road. He knows what I think of him and how great a player he is, so no issues there.”
Atkinson was asked how rare it is to have a player of his caliber be selfless to that degree. There isn’t much of a precedence in his eyes.
“He’s in a whole another stratosphere,” Atkinson said. “He’s so humble. Those guys, they’re rare because it’s another level of humility, and I’ve just loved being around him every day. Wonderful, wonderful person.”
Allen does everything a center can do to contribute to winning. If it’s not efficiently scoring, it’s often setting screens and knowing where to be at the right time to set up Mitchell, Garland, Mobley or anyone else on the floor.
When the game is on the line, everyone knows the ball is probably going somewhere else — but he’s there if needed.
“I feel like for me in that situation, it’s to get them open so they can have their big fourth-quarter moments,” Allen said Sunday after a Cavs loss to the Magic snapped their franchise-record 16-game winning streak, and in which he had 20 points, 12 rebounds and two assists. “Get them open on screens, let them create, shoot the 3 or whatever, and my job is just to clean up after.”