The Jarrett Allen trade looks better and better and better each day

The Cleveland Cavaliers are riding high after their hot start and it’s in part due to Jarrett Allen.

There was a time, not that long ago when the Brooklyn Nets looked like a real team on the rise. Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, Spencer Dinwiddie, and former Cleveland Cavalier Joe Harris made up a core of impressive talents. Then the team traded for Kevin Durant and signed Kyrie Irving and ever since then, the team has fallen apart. But, as the Nets fell apart, the Cleveland Cavaliers benefited.

Irving is under fire for his antisemitic beliefs, while Durant has requested a trade that has not been fulfilled. The Nets hired, then fired icon Steve Nash, and replaced him with Ime Udoka, a man who was fired for having an illicit affair with a married woman. Anyone who thinks this team can be saved is lying to themselves.

It isn’t just the recent trauma that the Nets have inflicted on their fanbase. The team made the ill-advised decision over two years go to get involved in the Russell Westbrook trade, by sending Dinwiddie over to the Washington Wizards as part of the deal. Several months later, they would again be part of a major trade, this time for James Harden, that saw the squad ship out Allen to Cleveland and LeVert to Indianapolis.

Both players are now on the Cavaliers and the Nets are 2-6, battling constant drama, mostly from Irving. That alone would make the Cavaliers a success in the trade, but Allen has been marvelous since arriving.

Jarrett Allen is a Defensive Player of the Year candidate and his absence is hurting the Brooklyn Nets

The Nets are horrid on defense. The Cavs are quite good. Through their first six games, the Cavs are 2nd in the league in fewest points given up, only the Milwaukee Bucks have limited opponents to fewer points. The Cavs are also 11th in the league in opponent shooting percentage, holding teams to just 45.9%.

A lot of that has to do with Allen. He’s the commander of the defense and someone who can keep opposing players from driving to the paint. Knowing Allen is there waiting for you is a real deterrent and you see a lot of guys pull up early on their shots because of it.

Yes, Evan Mobley has also been hugely impactful, but Mobley switches a lot, so he often floats out of the paint. Still valuable and impressive, but a different set of defensive responsibilities is all.

Both men have reshaped the Cavs team for years to come, and to think it wouldn’t have been possible if the Nets didn’t decide to dive deep into a toxic culture of overblown egos, and antisemitic rhetoric.