3 Most Underpaid Cavaliers Heading Into the 2023 Season

2. Jarrett Allen

Jarrett Allen isn't quite the defender Mobley is, but that doesn't mean he's not absolutely crucial to this Cavs team.

He's elite in his own right, and he's also a plus on the offensive end and on the glass, averaging 15.1 points and 10.2 boards per game through two seasons in Cleveland.

For a deeper look at his impact, the Cavaliers' net rating (amount they out-score opponents per 100 possessions) was 4.9 points higher with Allen on the floor than when he was off last year. And that was consistent with his +4.4 differential in his first season as a Cav. For some context, Mobley's differential was +2.4 last year, and Donovan Mitchell's was +0.9.

Allen may be one of the Cavs' highest-paid players, but $20 million is already a total bargain before you consider that he's still only 25 years old. His growth as an NBA player hasn't slowed down yet, and for a guy that is already a bargain, the idea of him continuing to develop and reaching his peak while still locked in at $20 million per (which he is through the 2025-26 season) is crazy.

Keeping the Mobley-Allen frontcourt together could be difficult in the long-term, but thanks to their contract situations, the Cavs will have a few years of a window with these two anchoring things.