{"id":81681,"date":"2024-06-17T14:22:51","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T18:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=81681"},"modified":"2024-06-17T14:22:51","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T18:22:51","slug":"cavs-star-connection-with-starting-big-man-makes-trade-unlikely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/06\/17\/cavs-star-connection-with-starting-big-man-makes-trade-unlikely\/","title":{"rendered":"Cavs&#8217; Star Connection With Starting Big Man Makes Trade Unlikely\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>All summer the Cleveland Cavaliers have been involved in trade rumors. However, the Cavs are reluctant to move on from former All-Star big man <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/allenja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jarrett Allen<\/a> for an important reason, per <a href=\"https:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/10124961-nba-rumors-cavs-hesitant-on-jarrett-allen-trade-donovan-mitchell-a-fan-of-center\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marc Stein<\/a>. It is well known that the Cavs are hopeful to extend their superstar guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mitchdo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Donovan Mitchell<\/a> this summer. Mitchell though, is keen that Cavs President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/executives\/altmako01x.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Koby Altman<\/a> does not deal his starting center.<\/p>\n<h2>Cavs&#8217; Star Connection With Starting Big Man Makes Trade Unlikely<\/h2>\n<h3>The Duo&#8217;s Dominance<\/h3>\n<p>Since Mitchell joined the Cavaliers in 2022, he and Allen have formed a formidable duo in Cleveland. In two seasons together, the two are a staggering <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statmuse.com\/nba\/ask\/donovan-mitchell-plus-minus-with-jarrett-allen\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">+678<\/a> on the court together in 108 games played. Additionally, both players notched career-high averages in assists this year. The partnership of Mitchell and Allen had grown throughout this past campaign. Mitchell spent parts of this season sidelined with a knee injury, but he was active in cheering on Allen and his teammates. Throughout the year, Mitchell has been clear in his admiration for Allen.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"in\">Donovan x Jarrett \u2665\ufe0f\ud83d\udc9b <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/nsyVdACMLy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/nsyVdACMLy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Isaac Okoro Fan Club (@IsaacOkoroFan) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IsaacOkoroFan\/status\/1749623233450479858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 23, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Role in Mitchell Extension<\/h3>\n<p>The Cavs&#8217; main priority this offseason is <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/06\/13\/cleveland-cavaliers-are-expected-to-extend-franchise-player-donovan-mitchell\/\" target=\"_self\">keeping<\/a> Mitchell, who is eligible for a four-year 200+ million dollar extension as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fearthesword.com\/2024\/6\/16\/24179673\/timeline-of-cleveland-cavaliers-donovan-mitchell-rumors-and-reports#:~:text=Mitchell%20is%20eligible%20to%20discuss,after%20the%20NBA%20Finals%20end.\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">soon<\/a> as the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/06\/17\/nba-finals-3-keys-for-the-celtics-to-clinch-the-title-in-game-5\/\" target=\"_self\">NBA Finals<\/a> conclude. The superstar led Cleveland to their first <a href=\"https:\/\/basketball.realgm.com\/nba\/playoffs\/brackets\/2024\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">playoff series victory<\/a> since 2018 and the first without <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a> since <a href=\"https:\/\/basketball.realgm.com\/nba\/teams\/Cleveland-Cavaliers\/5\/Playoff-History\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">1993<\/a>. This means the Cavs are likely to <a href=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/news-206952-donovan-mitchell-has-similar-power-in-cavs-as-lebron-in-la-report-states.html#:~:text=News-,Donovan%20Mitchell%20has%20similar%20power%20in,LeBron%20in%20LA%2C%20report%20states&amp;text=Mitchell%20has%20influence%20over%20trades,the%20dismissal%20of%20JB%20Bickerstaff.&amp;text=Donovan%20Mitchell%20is%20one%20of,the%20NBA%20at%20the%20moment.\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">obey<\/a> any demands he has this summer. Also, keeping Allen is not a burden for the Cavs to keep Mitchell. He is the Cavs starting center and a key member of the starting lineup. He still has two years remaining on a team-friendly <a href=\"https:\/\/hoopshype.com\/player\/jarrett-allen\/salary\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">deal<\/a>. Additionally, since Allen signed the contract he has been an elite rim protector and rebounder.<\/p>\n<p>Arguably the Cavs&#8217; best stretch of basketball was when Mitchell and Allen were at the helm due to the injuries of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/garlada01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Darius Garland<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mobleev01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Evan Mobley<\/a> in December. The team went <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statmuse.com\/nba\/ask\/cavs-record-december-16-to-february-8\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">21-4<\/a> shooting up the East standings, while Mitchell was dropping dimes and Allen was a beast in the paint. That&#8217;s likely when the duo started becoming stronger when they carried the load of the team together. It would be hard to see a world in which trading Allen away would keep Mitchell content.<\/p>\n<h3>Trade Likelihood<\/h3>\n<p>While it&#8217;s no certainty that Allen will stay in Cleveland just because Mitchell wants him there. Koby Altman himself <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cleveland.com\/cavs\/2024\/05\/i-dont-see-sweeping-changes-cavs-president-koby-altman-addresses-jb-bickerstaff-dismissal-donovan-mitchells-future-roster-moves.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">mentioned<\/a> &#8220;I don&#8217;t see any sweeping changes.&#8221; making it even more apparent Allen will remain in Cleveland. If the Cavs are not going to break up their core this summer, this is a big season for them to prove they can win together. If Mitchell does not extend his deal in Cleveland, he has the option to become a free agent in the following summer while the Cavs are yet to extend Mobley too.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately it is not up to Donovan Mitchell whether or not the Cavs move on from Allen soon. But his influence is of the utmost importance to the Cleveland front office, meaning it could play a part if they are on the fence about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All summer the Cleveland Cavaliers have been involved in trade rumors. However, the Cavs are reluctant to move on from former All-Star big man Jarrett Allen for an important reason, per Marc Stein. It is well known that the Cavs are hopeful to extend their superstar guard Donovan Mitchell this summer. Mitchell though, is keen [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5174,"featured_media":81705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,9,62,4721],"tags":[900,1043,1185,3011],"class_list":["post-81681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-cavaliers","category-nba","category-trade-rumors","tag-donovan-mitchell","tag-jarrett-allen","tag-koby-altman","tag-marc-stein"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5174"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}