Jarrett Allen keeps surfacing in trade conversations around the NBA, but the Cavaliers have not found an offer that pushes them to move him.
On a recent episode of the Wine and Gold Talk podcast, Cleveland.com Cavs beat reporter Chris Fedor said league interest in Allen is constant, yet Cleveland still hasn’t seen a package that makes sense for where the team is trying to go.
“The obvious one is Jarrett Allen,” Fedor said. “How many times have we had conversations about Jared Allen?
And it all comes back to one simple thing. What’s the deal out there that the Cavs can get that is going to make them a better basketball team that involves Jarrett Allen?
They have yet to see one. They have yet to be offered one.”
That’s the push and pull here. Allen is one of the most discussed names in the league, but discussion has not turned into anything the Cavaliers view as worthwhile.
Fedor said the volume of calls on Allen is likely higher than for anyone else on the roster, and the reason is pretty simple: rival teams do not think Donovan Mitchell, James Harden or Evan Mobley are realistic trade targets.
“From what I’ve been told, the number of phone calls that the Cavs get on Jarrett, it probably outnumbers any of the other phone calls that the Cavs get for any other player on the roster,” Fedor said. “Because there is a belief around the NBA that if one of these guys is going to be pried away, it’s not going to be Donovan Mitchell.
It’s not going to be James Harden, certainly not going to be Evan Mobley. If one of these guys is, quote unquote available or attainable, it’s Jarrett Allen.”
Still, Cleveland’s stance is not about dismissing Allen’s value. Fedor said the organization recognizes exactly what he brings.
“It doesn’t mean he’s not valuable. It doesn’t mean that he’s not wanted around the NBA,” Fedor said.
“It’s that the Cavs believe in him, that the Cavs like him, the Cavs value him. The Cavs understand the impact that he has on winning.”
And that matters because Allen is more than a trade rumor. He is part of what Cleveland leans on at the core of its identity.
Paired with Evan Mobley, he gives the Cavaliers the defensive presence they need in the middle, especially as they try to get back to elite form after struggling on that end under Kenny Atkinson. If Allen goes, it is not just a roster change. It alters what the Cavaliers are built to be.
For now, the calls are coming in, and Cleveland is not biting. Unless an offer finally arrives that clearly improves the team, Allen looks set to stay right where he is.
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