While the Cleveland Cavs showed their dedication to the 2026-27 squad with hopes of watching a championship team materialize, starting center Jarrett Allen could be a potential trade piece if things don’t go as planned this season. The Cavs reaffirmed their commitment to Evan Mobley this summer, keeping instead of chasing All-Star forwards such as LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, said a lot about Cleveland during the offseason.
Trading with the Denver Nuggets for Peyton Watson before inking a three-year extension with James Harden solidified the Cavs’ core for the foreseeable future. It cemented the Cavs’ talented frontcourt in hopes of putting together a title-contending team ahead of the 2026-27 season, as ESPN’s Dave McMenamin noted, per The Hoop Collective podcast.
“All in on the roster, but also, as you’re looking at the Peyton Watson deal, Harden’s deal is directly tied into that,” McMenamin said. “Why did Harden get three guaranteed years? Cause of his willingness to wait and play ball with the front office to allow them to pull off the Peyton Watson deal.
“I think the only wiggle room here is if they feel like their ceiling isn’t high enough, I think it’s to explore Jarrett Allen deals in the market. I just don’t see other wiggle room, given the lack of picks.”
If things were to go south this season, the Cavs could receive a big return in exchange for Jarrett Allen, as ESPN’s Brian Windhorst pointed out.
“Jarrett Allen would be a reasonably valuable big if they made him available,” Windhorst said. “To trade him, they would need to be ready for Evan Mobley to play center most of the time. And they haven’t clearly been ready to do that.”
Still, Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman hasn’t been afraid to make a surprising trade mid-season, as he’s done so in the past, including his deal with the LA Clippers that landed him James Harden. With Harden, the Cavs reached the Eastern Conference Finals last season.
“Koby’s done a good job of shuffling the deck,” ESPN’s Bobby Marks noted. “When something doesn’t work, you go out and get De’Andre Hunter, or you flip Hunter for Schroeder and Ellis. You’ve done a lot of these moves. What happens is that eventually, as you said, Jarrett Allen will be your next trade candidate because you don’t have those Max Strus contracts anymore.
“You still have Sam Merrill. Eventually, you might have to pay Jaylon Tyson here. So, your next move might have to be one of the guys in your starting 5.”
Allen is entering the first season of a three-year, $90.7 million extension.