Cavs: Jarrett Allen may not be worth $100 million but there’s no other choices

Jarrett Allen isn’t a $100 million player but the Cavs don’t have many options.

Jarrett Allen is a good defensive player. He’s worth hanging onto. He’s also not worth $100 million. These three things can all be true simultaneously. The latest from Terry Pluto claims the Cavs are considering offering Allen a four-year, $25 million-per-year contract, which would top $100 million more than likely.

The Cavs already have a lot of money tied up in a lot of players who aren’t worth their salaries. Namely Kevin Love ($31 million) and Taurean Prince ($13 million). So adding $25 million to those three names gives you about $69 million tied up between three players.

That’s not counting another $20-25 million for Collin Sexton next offseason.

The Cavs already have no cap-room, and this isn’t going to help that fact. So what’s the alternative? When it comes to Allen, there isn’t one.

This wouldn’t be an issue if Allen was a proven commodity. Part of the problem is Allen’s lack of domination with the Nets. They only had one winning season during his full three years with the team, and while he averaged close to a double-double in 2019-2020, the fact is he wasn’t exactly clearing the paint.

It should be noted, as we look at all the sides of the argument here, that he was in his late teens and early-20s during his time with the Nets and it takes time for young players to become assertive. So it’s entirely possible we’re looking at the next Hall of Fame center in Allen. The problem is he’s still too young to know if he is going to get better or if he’s peaked.

That’s the gamble. That’s the issue with paying 22-year-olds who haven’t even finished growing and maturing mentally so much money. You never know what your return on investment will be.

Now some will try to say “See, told you they should’ve kept Andre Drummond” but just because Allen may or may not be worth $100, doesn’t mean Drummond is. We already know Drummond isn’t. So why give Drummond $100 million for being bad offensively and “pouting” when someone else came to the team?

There’s no other choice though.

That’s the issue, at the end of the day, there is no other play in the playbook. It’s either pay Allen $25 million a year and hope he develops and grows into the contract or lose him to someone who will play him that. So you have to pay him. The dominos it sets up are going to be profound, however. Love can’t stay on the team after Allen gets his deal. The team is already $17+ million over the cap. You can turn that into $42 million over the cap, or you can try and trade Love and cut the number to just $10-11 million over the cap.

If the Cavs are going to keep Sexton and Darius Garland, however, they’re going to need about $40-50 million for both of them as well. Plus you’re going to need to keep building the roster and who’s to say the draft picks Koby Altman has been putting so much value in will develop into guys the team can use.

Dylan Windler isn’t looking like a hit, Isaac Okoro has some glaring issues in his game, and who’s to say that the upcoming Top 5 pick is going to be a slamdunk? There’s a lot of risk with these contracts and getting stuck into yet another bad deal, like with Love isn’t going to help things any.

At the end of the day though, all you can do is hope that Allen becomes a player worth his salary and hope to whomever that the contract doesn’t become another albatross hanging around the neck of the organization, crippling their ability to make roster moves for another four years.

The Cavs’ future is murky.