This season, Cleveland Cavaliers big man Jarrett Allen has been put in an interesting position every time the team takes the hardwood. No, not all the outside haters are merely waiters at his table of success after last season's meltdown against the New York Knicks. Instead, he's in a unique position, bringing a knife to a gunfight.

This doesn't mean Allen is in physical danger or auditioning for a lead role in West Side Story. In a more basketball sense, Allen is a dinosaur on the evolving pantheon of big men, where he's traditionally known as primarily a lockdown presence on the interior and only scores from a few feet within the basket.

Meanwhile, the modern big man, Nikola Jokic or Joel Embiid, is even more diverse offensively, using their size and strength to dominate on the interior but also showcasing an ability to attack from beyond the arc.

Bigger players like Jokic and Embiid are becoming the new norm in the NBA while players with a skillset similar to Allen's are starting to go extinct. That's not a way to say that Allen and his skillset are completely useless. Instead, it's quite the contrary. With the overabundance of floor-stretching big men, Allen had to learn how to adapt to what was considered the new normal to survive.

Allen controls the paint

Jarrett Allen with fireworks behind him

Against the Nuggets and with Jokic as the primary defensive assignment, Allen only allowed Denver to connect on 37.5% of their attempts. Meanwhile, against Embiid, the reigning NBA MVP, and the Philadelphia 76ers, Allen only allowed the team to connect on 38.9% of the 18 attempts the Sixers threw his way.

Again, Cleveland threw Allen to the wolves, matching him a minute for minute with the likes of Embiid and Jokic, and, more importantly, he thrived defensively. It sure silenced his haters and surprised plenty that Allen handled his tough assignment. But, to others, it didn't come as a surprise at all that Allen thrived in these assignments.

“Jarrett is awesome and I cannot say that enough,” said head coach J.B. Bickerstaff to ClutchPoints. “We are extremely fortunate to have big guys that can do so many things. Like, we put Jarrett in against Jokic or Embiid and we'll even switch him onto point guards or even wings like DeMar DeRozan and the list goes on. He's extremely versatile an his job never changes for us. He accepts challenges for us. He protects the paint, no matter where his guy is on the floor.”

Allen showing this sign of growth when it seemed like he was done developing is encouraging, especially when he's the second-oldest member of the Cleveland star-powered quartet. The defensive dynamo got another crack in a closely contested win over the Houston Rockets, where he hounded Alperen Sengun, another floor-spacing big.

The only time Sengun could do most of his damage for the Rockets was whenever Allen was on the bench for the Cavs. Sure, Sengun's careless turnovers were why the two never saw the floor often together. But Allen's defensive pressure also played a part in those miscues for Houston.

Sure, foul trouble prevented Allen from having a more robust impact whenever he was out there for the Cavs. But, he was still a key difference-maker in Cleveland slowing down a Houston offensive attack that is lethal from all over the floor.

He's been a vital asset to the Cavs on the defensive side of the ball ever since he arrived here several seasons ago. But, again, considering that this evolution has come so far into his career is more than a welcome sign for Cleveland.