Jarrett Allen has already been a steady piece for the Cavaliers, but there’s reason to think he could do even more with James Harden running the offense for a full season.
That’s the case Mike Anguilano makes in his Cavs season preview for Fear the Sword, where he points to Allen’s offensive surge after Harden arrived. Allen averaged 15.4 points and 8.5 rebounds last season, and Anguilano notes that his scoring climbed by about seven points per game after the trade. The numbers got even more eye-catching when Allen and Harden shared the floor in regular-season lineups, which produced 122.7 points per 100 possessions.
The idea is pretty straightforward: Harden has a long track record of making life easier for his big men, and Allen could be the next beneficiary. Anguilano points to Harden’s past work with Clint Capela and Ivica Zubac as the blueprint, and the logic is hard to miss. If Harden is steering the attack for an entire season, Allen may be set up for his most productive offensive year yet.
And Allen doesn’t need a heavy playbook to make an impact. Put him near the rim with a little space, and he can finish the job himself.
Anguilano also digs into the defensive side, where Allen and Evan Mobley remain at the center of what the Cavaliers are trying to build. In his view, Allen is one of those steady contributors whose value can get buried when the team hits rough patches.
That feels fair. Allen will have quiet stretches, but he still offers plenty: protection at the basket, dependable finishing, and a clean target for Harden to find in the paint. That combination gives Cleveland a lot to work with.
Anguilano’s full preview takes a broader look at how the Harden pairing could unlock another level for Allen on offense.
In Other News...
Evan Mobley Debate Just Got Uncomfortable For The Cavs
A speculative Evan Mobley-for-Matas Buzelis trade idea has surfaced in the kind of offseason chatter that always lands a little harder when it involves a cornerstone player. For Cleveland, the premise is uncomfortable because Mobley remains one of the leagues most valuable young defenders, the sort of player who changes the floor on that end even when the offense is still evolving. For Chicago, Buzelis is the more theoretical piece, a young forward whose appeal rests on the belief that his scoring upside can keep growing into something bigger.
The debate gets interesting because both sides can talk themselves into the basketball fit, even if the idea lives entirely in hypotheticals. Cleveland would be weighing whether to move off a proven defensive anchor for a higher-variance offensive swing, while the Bulls would be asking how much patience they have for Buzelis to reach his ceiling. Nothing about this points to real negotiations, but it is the kind of thought experiment that exposes just how delicate the balance is when a team starts wondering whether its best long-term answer is already in hand. [Read more 🡒]
Three Young Cavs Suddenly Have A Real Shot To Matter
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Proctor has already drawn some attention from Kenny Atkinson, who recently pointed to the guards physical development as part of his progress, and that only adds to the sense that his timeline is moving in the right direction. Porter and Tyson, meanwhile, are still in the category of players whose next step could come from simple but important growth, including greater shooting aggression and more consistency. None of it is finished, but for Cleveland, the possibility that a few young players might meaningfully matter by 2026-27 is the kind of internal upside that can shape a roster more than any outside rumor. [Read more 🡒]
LeBrons Latest Health Concern Changes Clevelands Biggest What-If
LeBron James latest health update has added another layer to the long-running conversation about what might have been in Cleveland. After leaving for Philadelphia for what is expected to be the final two seasons of his career, James is now dealing with chronic arthritis in his left foot and lower-back issues, according to an ESPN report. It is the kind of news that resonates far beyond his current team, because for Cavaliers fans it brings back the familiar mix of admiration and regret that has followed every twist in his late-career arc.
James reportedly monitors the problems daily as part of his training, and last season he missed about a month because of sciatica. For Philadelphia, the concern is obvious: availability always shapes everything around a player at this stage, from rhythm to lineup stability to the larger ceiling of the season. For Cleveland, it only sharpens the old question of how different things might have looked if this version of James, with all the wear and tear that comes with the miles, had been part of the present instead of another teams future. [Read more 🡒]