The New Orleans Pelicans may be trying to address their donut-hole interior defense.
Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports wrote in his column on Wednesday that the Pelicans have shown interest in a potential trade for Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen. The 25-year-old Allen is also drawing interest from other unnamed playoff contenders, Fischer adds.
Allen, who is in the third year of a five-year, $100 million contract with the Cavs, is a pretty intriguing target for New Orleans. While current Pelicans starting center Jonas Valanciunas easily clears Allen on offense, Valanciunas is not a great rim protector. Even though New Orleans has strong point-of-attack defenders such as Herbert Jones, Naji Marshall, and Jose Alvarado, having Valanciunas as their final line of defense limits their overall upside on that end.
An elite shot-changer and high-energy leaper who is averaging 12.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, Allen was an All-Star for the Cavs in 2022. On top of his ability as a traditional 5, Allen has experience playing in tall-ball lineups alongside Evan Mobley and (further back) Lauri Markkanen. That opens up the possibility of New Orleans trading for Allen as insurance in case Zion Williamson needs to miss time and potentially even using him alongside Valanciunas.
With less than two months to go before the trade deadline, the 15-12 Cavs are facing increased scrutiny over whether or not they need to blow it up (especially with both Mobley and Darius Garland in the midst of extended injury absences). Along with Allen being a possible trade candidate, rival teams are eagerly eyeing another All-Star on Cleveland’s roster as well.
