For virtually the first time this century without the presence of LeBron James, there is plenty of reason to be optimistic for the Cavs. They've improved out of sight over the past two seasons, improving from 22 to 44 to 51 wins and last season returning to the playoffs for the first time since LeBron left.
Unfortunately, despite earning the four seed, they were knocked out in the first round by the Knicks, but there is good reason to expect further improvement this season. Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland will enter their second season together as a back court, Evan Mobley should progress even further in his third season in the league, and the addition of Max Strus and Georges Niang will add some much needed shooting ability to the roster.
Jarrett Allen has also been a reliable presence at the five since being traded from the Nets, and creates an imposing defensive front court combination with Evan Mobley. But unfortunately, every team's biggest preseason fear has been realized for he and the Cavs, and though the injury Allen has suffered is not a long-term one, it nonetheless brings attention to their lack of depth in his position.
Can the Cavs manage without Jarrett Allen?
After playing at least 70 games in each of his first three seasons in the NBA, Jarrett Allen has hovered on the verge of being categorized as injury-prone. In 2020-21, the season in which he was traded to the Cavs, he managed 63 games; the next season he played 56, while last season he played 68. He's not quite a walking injury like some players in the league, but he's certainly spent more time off the court than he or the Cavs would like in recent years, and his latest injury serves as a reminder of the lack of options they are going to have if he does find himself missing any decent period of time during the upcoming season.
This injury itself isn't going to keep him out for all that long. According to the Cavs, he hurt his left ankle during one of the first practice sessions at training camp, and it only continued to deteriorate. Eventually, the bone bruise was deemed significant enough to put him on ice for “at least two weeks”, with coach JB Bickerstaff saying “It's just one of those things over time.”
A timeline of at least two weeks means that there is the possibility that Allen will miss the beginning of the regular season, in which case they'll obviously have to find a way to cover him for a few games. It doesn't sound as though that will be for particularly long, but even so, based on past history there's every possibility that this won't be the only stint he spends on the sideline.
Any games he does miss will expose the Cavs' dearth of back-up center options. If they want to go small, Evan Mobley can always slide across, but if they want to keep him at the four then their options are very limited. The Cavs' current centers behind Allen are Damian Jones, who has spent six seasons in the league just scraping by as a back-up, and the 32-year-old Tristan Thompson, who hasn't seen an NBA floor since April of 2022.
There is plenty to like about the Cavs heading into this season, and their well-rounded starting five should lead them to another playoff appearance in 2023-24. But one area of concern is their lack of back-up options at center behind Jarrett Allen, and their big man's latest injury in the lead-up to the season serves as a stern reminder of that fact.
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