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By Alex Kirschenbaum
Contributing Entertainment Writer
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The Cleveland Cavaliers continue their summer of solid, future-leaning transactions by locking in All-Star center Jarrett Allen to a new long-term extension.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the 6-foot-11 Texas product is inking a three-year, $91 million deal to stick around well into his prime.
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Allen, 26, was initially drafted by the Brooklyn Nets, but was traded to Cleveland early into the 2020-21 season as part of a multi-team package that sent then-All-Star combo guard James Harden to Brooklyn. Allen quickly blossomed with his second pro club, making his first (and thus far only) All-Star squad the next season.
When the Cavaliers shored up their roster and strengthened their case as legitimate Eastern Conference contenders by acquiring All-Star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell in a blockbuster 2022 offseason deal with the Utah Jazz, Allen's contributions remained essential.
Retaining their starting center on a below-maximum extension is a solid play by Cleveland, who earlier this summer also inked Mitchell and All-Defensive power forward Evan Mobley to extension agreements of their own.
The Cavaliers have gone a combined 99-65 across the past two seasons, earning the East's No. 4 seed each time. This past spring, the 48-34 Cavaliers managed to make the second round of the playoffs for the first time in six years, after outlasting the young Orlando Magic in a seven-game rock fight. Cleveland's luck ran out in the second round, however. With Allen shelved for all but four games of the entire playoffs due to an injury, and Mitchell missing two contests in the second round series against the Boston Celtics, Cleveland was no match for the eventual NBA champs. The Cavaliers lasted just five games.
Although Mitchell and his fellow backcourt All-Star Darius Garland receive the lion's share of Cavaliers-oriented headlines and "SportsCenter" highlights, Allen has been admirably plying his trade a bit below the radar of the national media landscape. The big man is, however, appreciated by the league at large. To wit, he has finished among the top 12 recipients of Defensive Player of the Year consideration across three of his seven NBA seasons.
Last year, across 77 healthy regular season bouts, Allen averaged 16.5 points on 63.4 percent shooting, 10.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.1 blocks, and 0.7 steals a night.
Beyond retaining three of its core players with splashy new deals this summer, Cleveland also made a big change on its bench, firing longtime head coach J.B. Bickerstaff (now with the lowly Detroit Pistons) in favor of former Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson.
With Allen, Mobley, Mitchell, and Garland now all aboard for the long haul — and Atkinson guiding them — the Cavaliers are no doubt expecting to emerge as bona fide contenders in the conference.
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