After a devastating loss to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, many are urging the Cleveland Cavaliers to move off this star player.
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ historic 2024-25 season officially came to a close on Tuesday night after dropping Game 5 against the Indiana Pacers, 114-105. While injuries plagued the team throughout the course of the playoffs, the Cavaliers’ “toughness” has been called into question.
Just one day after the crushing loss, The Athletic columnist Jason Lloyd voiced his thoughts regarding the Cavaliers’ roster on 92.3 The Fan, stating that there is a lack of toughness.
“I believe that there’s a toughness factor that is missing from this roster,” said Lloyd. “Just from the fabric of the way this team is built, they aren’t tough enough. And you can apply that to on the court, you can apply that to how they manage injuries, you can apply that to a lot of different facets.”
Lloyd followed up his remarks with a roster move Cleveland should consider, claiming that he doesn’t know how the team would bring back star center Jarrett Allen.
“Jarrett Allen…great guy, everyone loves how nerdy he is and everything else, but I don’t know how you bring him back,” stated Lloyd. “And I said that last year, and they brought him back. And now I’m saying it again. Three years in a row he’s been a ghost in the playoffs when they needed him. And that’s not to pick on Jarrett, that’s not to put it all on Jarrett, it goes deeper than him.”
“There’s a toughness factor that is missing…I don’t know how you bring (Jarrett Allen) back. Three years in-a-row he’s been a ghost in the playoffs…it goes deeper than him.”
Allen has been a key player to Cleveland’s “Core Four”, averaging 14.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game in his five-year stint with the Cavaliers. And despite averaging almost 18 points in the first three games of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the 27-year-old finished the series on a cold streak, totaling 11 points in the final two games.
While this claim may seem enticing to some fans, Allen signed a three year, $91 million contract extension with the Cavaliers last offseason. This makes it tough for the team to move off of him, as Cleveland would have to find a trade suitor that can handle his contract.
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