The Cleveland Cavaliers seem to have their offensive hierarchy set in stone.
Guard Donovan Mitchell is their first option, fellow starting guard Darius Garland is their second option and big man Evan Mobley seems to be their third option.
Starting center Jarrett Allen isn’t really a man who the Cavs can go to on offense to create scores, but he was third on the team in scoring last season at a career-high 16.5 points a game.
Former NBA superstar and current Turner Sports personality Charles Barkley actually thinks Allen should be Cleveland’s second offensive option, and he said the big man is the team’s second-best player behind Mitchell, per NBACentral.
Charles Barkley says Jarrett Allen should be the second option on the Cavs.
“He should be the second option on that team. He’s the second best player on that team. It should be Donovan and Jarrett Allen, 1 and 2”
(🎥 @RichEisenShow / @NBABeyondCourt)
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 8, 2024
Allen has been regarded over the years as someone who gets buckets mainly by hustling — getting out in transition, securing offensive rebounds and moving without the ball — but Barkley clearly feels he’s more than that as a player.
Barkley said he expected Allen to be averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds a game by now.
The Cavs have become a legitimate playoff team over the last two seasons ever since Mitchell arrived in a surprising trade, and now they’re looking for a way to crack the elite pantheon of the Eastern Conference.
They lost in five games in the second round of last season’s playoffs to the eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics, and they’re clearly not on the level of the Celtics, New York Knicks or Philadelphia 76ers right now.
They will need some offensive growth from Allen and Mobley in order to have a real shot at taking a legitimate step forward this season.
