Jarrett Allen has his third shot to make the All-Star team thanks to James Harden

The Cleveland Cavaliers keep benefiting from James Harden.

In very early 2021, the Cleveland Cavaliers made the decision to trade for Jarrett Allen. This isn’t entirely true, it was more like the Nets and Rockets were discussing a trade involving James Harden, and Koby Altman was sitting under the table with his hand in the pocket of Nets’ GM Sean Marks, quietly shouting out “HEY, WE SHOULD TRADE JARRETT ALLEN TO THE CAVS”, before changing his voice slightly and agreeing with himself “YEAH, SEND ALLEN TO THE CAVS, THAT’S A NEAT IDEA”.

And Marks bought it. Sucker.

That trade of Harden netted the Cavs the best defensive center in the Eastern Conference and arguably the number two center behind Joel Embiid. The Pacers got Caris LeVert in the same deal. Now both are on the Cavs. Harden is the Cavalier’s MVP.

Now, thanks to Harden, Allen has yet his third opportunity to make the All-Star Team, something that should’ve happened the first time around.

James Harden is sitting out the All-Star Game following trade

The 76ers claim that Harden is out through the All-Star Game to rest his left hamstring. Sure, we’ll buy that excuse. That just means that Allen has yet another shot to get into the All-Star Game. The league’s boneheaded decision to place LaMelo Ball in the game over Allen can finally be rectified by placing Allen in the game as Harden’s replacement.

Other names like Jaylen Brown, Pascal Siakam, and Jrue Holiday are being tossed about and while each has its merits to go in, the fact remains that Allen is arguably the Defensive Player of the Year and is the second-best player on one of the East’s best teams.

Allen should’ve gotten in the first time around when the teams were selected, and then he dang sure deserved to go in before Ball, and somehow, for some reason, the NBA has the chance to rectify this issue.

Will Adam Silver screw this up again?

Yeah, probably.